Between the Stars
by s.e tudor
Summary: They have always loved one another, since the first moment on the Hogwarts express. Their star crossed love reunited with one another during fifth year and they were able to keep their affair a secret, even during the final battle. What happens ten years after the war, with a secret both of them are hiding? [Draco/Hermione] [Harry/Ginny] IN PROGRESS
1. Prologue

She sighed as she traced lazy circles on his chest. Like always, she wished that they could stay that way, just the two of them against the world; but deep down she knew that was never going to happen. Outside their little bubble in the real world, a war was raging on. Good versus evil. He began to stir under her and she sighed, sliding her arm around his waist and squeezed her eyes tightly.

"I have to go" he whispered as if he was afraid someone might over hear.

"Can't I just steal you away for one more moment?" she muttered leaning into the side of his chest.

"I can't" he whispered again as if the words coming out of his mouth were painful to speak "He'll wonder where I'm at, i-I can't ignore it"

She sat up letting her unruly curly brown hair cascade down her shoulders and he seized this opportunity to get out of the bed that currently housed the only thing he cared about. Her chocolate brown eyes bore into his grey ones and he sighed. She was always a sight for sore eyes, especially these days. Her curls formed a halo around her delicate features as it always had, as he always adored.

"I'm one of the bad guys" he muttered pulling his shirt on and buttoning it. "I always will be"

"Draco" she whispered bringing herself to her knees, the sheet wrapped tightly around her body. He turned to face her and she cupped his face in her hands, her thumbs gently stroking his cheeks "you're not a bad person. You're never going to be a bad person." She sighed in frustration and pulled the sleeve of his arm up, revealing the dark mark on Draco's alabaster skin "This" she ran her fingers over the ugly mark gently "Does not make you bad. You are a good person Draco Malfoy, and I'll be here when you get back"

He smiled slightly and pressed his forehead against hers "what good did I do in life to deserve you, Hermione Granger?"

She shrugged and smiled slightly "Probably that time when we met on the Hogwarts express so long ago"

"Bit of a prat I was back then, wasn't i?" he smirked

"Yeah." She agreed half heartily "But it was a much more pleasant experience to be paired with you during charms in fifth year."

"Yeah, it was" he agreed and moved his head into the crook of her neck, kissing it gently "I'm surprised we've managed to keep people off our trail this long"

"Hm" she moaned softly as he kissed her neck "I'm pretty sure Harry-"

Draco hissed and brought his head away from her neck "I have to go" He looked down into her eyes and placed a gentle kiss onto her lips "Don't wait here, it's too dangerous" He rushed and kissed her again "Don't be a hero" He chuckled a bit "even as I say these words I know you won't listen."

"Never have" she smiled sadly

"I'll come back for you" he kissed her again as if he'd never have the pleasure of doing it again "whatever you do Hermione, don't get yourself killed. Be safe."

Hermione nodded, willing the tears in her eyes not to fall "so this is really happening" she spoke, her voice barley above a whisper. He nodded and she looked up at him, sadness swimming in her eyes "Be safe, Draco."

He nodded and stepped away from her, causing her arms to fall limply to her sides. She watched him stride across the Room of Requirement, picking up his jacket as he passed it. Draco reached the door and paused with his hand on the knob. He paused a second longer, the burning pain on his arm a constant reminder. A reminder that he might never come back alive to those brown eyes that he often lost himself in, or the soft chocolate brown curls that smelled like lavender and sandalwood. He inhaled deeply and turned around to drink her in one last time. His witch.

"I love you" they said in unison

Draco smiled sadly before he disappeared out of the door. Hermione stared after him, her wizard, for a few moments before her attention turned to the scabbed wound on her skin. She ran her fingers gently over the bumps and hastily got up and got dressed. She promised not to get herself killed but she wasn't sure that was a promise she could keep. She was a moving target. The muggle born best friend of Harry Potter; nothing safe came out of that during war. She pulled her jean jacket over her pink jumper, grabbed her wand off the table and quickly walked out the door- and into battle.

 **Authors Note:** Hello! I'm excited to bring you my first ever harry potter fan fiction and my first ever Dramione fan fiction! This is going to be a fluff piece, and they're probably going to be OOC and I'll try to upload at least once a week. I hope you all enjoyed the Prologue, please leave a review

Dedicating this story to my friends Jodie and Cameron who listened to me talk about this fan fiction almost nonstop since late December/early January and haven't complained once even when I got a bit obsessive over it!


	2. Chapter One

_5 July 1998_

"You're sure this is going to work?"

"Muggles use them all the time, they're 99% accurate. It's going to be just fine"

"But" the redhead sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear "what about the other 1%?"

Hermione laughed and put her hand on Ginny's shoulder "if this is positive we'll go to the doctors to confirm"

"Or a mediwitch" Ginny mumbled as she leaned on the door frame

Hermione sighed "I think it would be better to use a Muggle doctor for now Gin. I'm sure Rita Skeeter would have her wand in a knot if she found out. She hasn't had any good stories since the war and if the golden Trio was expecting she'd have a time. I highly doubt that she forgot when I put her in a jar and" Hermione shrugged sitting on top of the toilet lid "It's been over a year."

Ginny sighed again and nodded slightly "when you're right, you're right." She pushed herself off the door frame and kneeled down in front of Hermione "so" she glanced up at the bushy brunette and smiled slightly "When will we know?"

Hermione glanced down at her friend and grabbed a box off the sink looking down at it "Well, when I bought this at the shop I didn't read it. I didn't want anyone to see me have it." She glanced up at Ginny for a second before she brought her attention back to the box shaking in her hands "well," she inhaled a shaky breath "it says here that I can either pee on it or pee in a cup and hold it for a full five seconds and then after that we wait three minutes." Hermione and Ginny locked eyes "I have to do this, I have to know."

Ginny nodded and stood up "I'll be in the living room watching the felly-vision. I've grown accustomed to that Maury Povich." Ginny walked out of the bathroom glancing back to Hermione one last time.

Hermione stood up, shut the door and grabbed a Dixie cup off the counter. It had been two months since she had seen Draco last. If she was, she wasn't sure she knew how to tell him or even if she wanted to tell him. He never came back like he promised. She was heartbroken and devastated but she never let it show. She couldn't let it show. It was uncertain if Harry knew but Ron certainly didn't know of her illicit two year affair with Slytherin's prince. Ginny, Her best friend in the entire world, didn't' even know who it could have been.

Shaking hands opened the box and Hermione closed her eyes tightly, silently praying. Two minutes later Hermione emerged from the bathroom and slowly shuffled into the living room.

"So now we wait" she shrugged plopping down on the sofa next to Ginny.

Ginny side eyed Hermione and ran her hands down her jeans "are you going to tell me whose it is?"

Hermione shook her head "I can't right now." She paused and stared at the wall before carrying on "maybe after I tell him" she closed her eyes tightly, the tears welling up in her eyes "If I tell him."

"If? What do you mean if?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure he'd be happy to be a father Gin-"

The door opened suddenly revealing a bespectacled dark haired man and a freckled ginger behind him, both carrying bags from the corner shop Hermione had bought her test from.

"Ron" Harry looked at him as he shut the door "Just because you're unsure how Slinky's work doesn't mean you can throw them around and expect them to come straight back." Harry walked over to the counter and placed his bags down "It's not a boomerang, mate" He clapped Ron on the shoulder before unloading the purchases.

Ron looked confused as he placed his bags down next to Harry's "They come back when you do this thing with your hands" he mimicked moving them up and down next to each other "you'd think it would come back if I threw it out in front of me" He moved into the living room and plopped in the chair in the very corner "not like whatever a boomerang is."

Harry walked over and sat on the arm of the couch next to Ginny "everything okay?" he glanced at the pair, realizing how quiet they had been through the entire conversation.

Hermione shook her head and stood up from the couch "It's been three minutes"

Harry looked over at Ron and then down at Ginny "Three minutes for what?"

Hermione returned to the living room as fast as she had left, clutching a white stick in her right fist, her left hand steadying herself on the wall "it's positive."

"I'm sorry but what exactly is positive?" Ron questioned.

"This" Hermione held up the pink tipped plastic test and closed her eyes "this right here. It reads positive"

"Y-you're pregnant?" Harry questioned, his voice soft "Who?"

Ginny shot daggers his way "She won't say and it's her right not to"

"What am I going to do?" Hermione looked between her friends, tears welling up in her eyes "The brightest witch of her age turns out to be fraudulent because she was dumb enough to forget a simple little spell" Hermione leaned on the wall "and to be expecting while unmarried in the wizarding world is…" she paused staring at the floor "it's completely uncalled for."

"Many wizards and witches now a days don't care about if a witch is a single mother. If they did a lot of people would be-"

"I'll do it" harry said cutting Ginny off "I'll marry you"

"Don't be absurd, Harry." Hermione sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands "Everyone knows you and Gin are getting married next spring" She inhaled and slowly slid down the wall.

Harry got up and joined Hermione at the wall. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and laid his head on top of hers which skewed his glasses a bit "It was just a thought."

"A very kind gesture Harry, thank you." Hermione smiled slightly causing more tears to leak out her eyes "But I'm sure Gin would kill us."

"Not kill, never kill." The ginger smiled from her position on the couch.

"I'll do it." Ron stood up from his position in the corner chair.

Hermione stiffened and looked at him "I can't have you do that Ronald." She looked at him as he sat down on her other side "I'm not worried about being married, loads of people do it every day-"

"Would you just shut up for a second?" Ron said hotly "Everyone thinks were together anyway, your child needs a father and I can pretend it's mine" He shrugged "Lavender's gone, I've got nothing to lose." He stood up and Hermione followed him with her eyes, at a loss for words "So, if that's it then." He gestured toward the door "I'm sure mum would like to know, better tell her myself." He looked at Hermione before walking out the door.

Tears stung at the back of her eyes. She was an engaged woman to one of her best friends at that. Hermione stared at the floor thinking about how Ron didn't have to do what he did, and how she was lucky to have friends like that. She wasn't sure if 'lucky' would have been the right word to describe her situation because lucky was defiantly something she would have called herself at the moment.

 _.x._

Later that night after Ron had returned with many heartfelt congratulations from Mrs. Weasley the girls made dinner and the boys played wizard's chess. They left a while later leaving Hermione alone with Ron's promise of owling her to make arrangements for when he could move in. Hermione was going to tell him that he didn't have to but he had mentioned how much closer to the ministry he'd be in muggle London. After being spliced he hated apparition.

Left alone with her thoughts, all Hermione could think about was how her life had changed so dramatically in three minutes time, although she had an inkling the past month and a half. She stood up from the position on the couch her friends had left her in a few minutes before and made her way to the kitchen table, grabbing the Daily Prophet that had been delivered earlier that day but the front bore less than welcome news. The entire front page held tribute to the Malfoy-Greengrass engagement something that Nigel Hornby said was no surprise to the Hogwarts sweethearts. Hermione snorted at the line and threw the paper promptly in the bin which left her in the predicament she was currently in.

If she told him.

She ran her hands down her face and picked up a piece of parchment paper and her quill. She quickly put it down and screamed into the empty dining room. Where did all her courage go? She helped defeat Voldemort for Merlin's sake! If she could do that, then she could write a letter to the man she loved. To the man who once loved her.

"Okay, Hermione" She whispered to herself "Relax. Just write it, you don't have to send it but you have to write it." She inhaled sharply and dipped the tip of the quill in the ink and began to write.

 _5 July, 1998_

 _Dear Draco,_

 _I know this is the wrong time to write to you, seeing as you're recently engaged. Congratulations on your engagement to Astoria, you make a very handsome couple and I am truly happy for you. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. I do have a confession to make, I'm not entirely writing to you about your engagement but to tell you something with the upmost importance. I'm pregnant. You don't have to worry about taking care of it, I'm not asking for anything financial or for you to be in its life. Ron and I got engaged today too, if you can believe that. He's promised to take care of me, and this baby. I can only hope it's for the best._

 _Love always,_

 _Hermione_

 ** _.xx._**

19 July, 1998

"Love is in the air! Hermione granger and her longtime boyfriend Ronald Weasley are engaged! Reports special correspondent Rita Skeeter!" Draco slammed the paper down on the table staring at the picture of Hermione smiling and shying away from the camera, her head buried in the Ron's shoulder. He was so mad he could spit quills.

"Is everything alright, Draco?"

His stone grey eyes moved from the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ up to the blond woman sitting across from him "Yes, Astoria, Everything is bloody perfect."

Astoria sighed and put down her silverware with a loud clink "Draco, we are to be married in the autumn, if we're going to make this work—"

Draco held up his hand and cocked his head to the side, his eyes closed to block out that blasted photo "Astoria there is no need for this to work. It's arranged and has been since your birth. I do not, and will not divulge in any feelings." He grabbed the paper and looked at her again "there is no us, and there never will be."

"I understand" She whispered as she looked down at her plate "I don't want this either, Draco." She paused for a long time before looking up at him "Theodore and I are—were – very much in love. I saw how you looked at her when you thought no one was looking. I know how it feels, Draco. You're not alone in this."

He sighed and looked up at her, pain swimming in his eyes "Does it get any easier?"

"No."

.x.

 _21 August, 1998_

"Draco!" Astoria rushed into his study clutching the Daily prophet to her chest "Hermione's pregnant. A month, the prophet says, happened right after their engagement" She handed him the paper and touched his arm gently "I'm sorry"

 _.x._

 _24 August, 1998_

A storm raged outside, rain beating on the window panes threatening to get in. Thunder shook the table causing Draco to look up from his lamb roast to Astoria, whose blue eyes danced with concern.

"they say she lost it. The baby" he looked back down at his dinner before pushing the plate away "I feel terrible for her and Weasel."

"Maybe you should reach out to her. It's only been a few days since they announced it. It must be very traumatic for them."

"You know I can't, Astoria." He pulled his plate back towards himself and took a bite, his heart aching for her. He'd have given up everything just to hold her.

 _.x._

 _1 December 1998_

"What do you mean they broke up?" Astoria said, her voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah" Draco leaned on the door frame to the green house and looked at his wife "Skeeter says she saw weasel moving out the day after a big fight" he shrugged "He's always been a git."

Astoria nodded in agreement before she started to tend to her flowers "you could always send her a letter, Draco." She glanced sideways at him before she looked back at her flowers. It only took a few seconds before the door to the greenhouse shut and Astoria closed her eyes, thanking Merlin that Theo's life wasn't public. There was no way she could go through what Draco was.

 **AN:** I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review; **Grahamgirl93** , **blondfirefly** , **percabethbooklion** and **Green Eyes Lana Lee**! And a generous thank you to those who liked and commented on Facebook (names withheld for privacy reasons). Just a quick little ditty about formatting. The **_.xx._** is changing character perspective from Hermione to Draco and the subsequent _.x._ is just a time jump between the last paragraph and the next. If this is confusing please let me know and I'll work on changing that J Thank you again SO much. I look forward to next week J


	3. Chapter Two

_15 August, 1998_

Hermione wrapped her hands around the warm mug and looked up at Ron, who stared at the same spot on the kitchen table that he had been staring at for five minutes already, his hands wrapped around his own warm mug. The clock ticked on in the deafening silence, to which Hermione was thankful for.

"I tried out for the keeper position with the Cannons" he glanced at her and looked back at his mug. Hermione was thankful that this was the only thing that he wanted to talk about when he told her earlier "and I'm on the team." He looked up at her and grinned.

"Oh Ronald!" Hermione jumped up and hugged him, almost knocking her mug down in the process "That's wonderful! Congratulations!"

Ron nodded "I start training with them in a couple of weeks. They said it was best to put it a couple weeks out so that I could get my affairs in order." He glanced at her "Ya know, at the ministry and all."

Hermione nodded "Have you told Harry and Ginny yet? They're going to be so thrilled!" she watched as Ron shook his head and she smiled resting her hand on his shoulder "Well then owl them, we can have them over for tea!"

 _.x._

 _21 August 1998_

Hermione entered the flat that she now shared with Ron and took off her trainers. She had a long day at the library she had been working at since Hogwarts and couldn't wait to get home to the roast she had prepared.

"Mione, you might want to see this."

Hermione jumped slightly at the voice, forgetting that since it was Friday Ron would be off work early "what is it?" She moved her way over to the couch and sat down on the opposite end before Ron handed her the Daily Prophet.

"I don't know how they found out, I didn't say anything, I swear." He looked at her "It's by Skeeter. I read it and all of it seems to check out except" He leaned over to Hermione and opened the paper "This paragraph where it says that we got pregnant about a month after our engagement."

Hermione glanced at him and sighed "its fine, Ron. If we were Hogwarts Sweethearts like everyone believes then this wouldn't come as much of a shock to anyone" she rested a hand on her stomach and glanced at him "We can't go running off to the prophet to say that it's a false claim."

 _.x._

 _24 August, 1998_

Hermione leaned on the counter at the library and combed through the issue of the Daily Prophet that she had received this morning. Her usual routine was to scan the paper for any signs of trouble, any signs that the Death Eaters were active again. She wasn't convinced that some of them truly denounced the old ways. Her eyes scanned a photo of Draco and his mother leaving St. Mungo's and that's when she caught it.

On the very next page in the 'lifestyle' section of the paper was her face, except it wasn't her face. It was a drawing of her looking incredibly somber

"Trio Tragedy." She whispered to herself "Hermione Granger admitted to St. Mungo's after miscarriage. Reports about Ronald Weasley's whereabouts have not been confirmed, but sources close say that he was with a lady friend around Cardiff." Hermione looked up from the article and around at the library. She was certain that she was here, and that she was still three months pregnant. She glanced back down at the article and rolled her eyes as they slid over Rita Skeeter's name. She had put a stop to it before, she was sure she could do it again.

 _.x._

"Hermione?" Ron peeked his head around the corner of the kitchen "I need to talk to you."

Hermione glanced at him and nodded "okay" she wiped her hands off on the towel she was holding and quickly checked on her cookies before she followed Ron out into the living room, where he sat in the chair in the corner of the room, like he did back in July.

"I don't think this is going to work out." He rested his elbows on his knees and stared down at the carpet "This arrangement that is." He exhaled deeply and continued on "I want more." He glanced up at her "with you. And I know you don't want that with me." He picked at his fingers and looked up at her "what are you smiling for?"

"It's just…" Hermione let out a soft laugh "I didn't expect you to do what you did for me." She moved over to the chair and held out the paper "This appeared in the paper today, it gives us both an out from this thing." She rested a hand on his shoulder "I do love you Ron, but not in the way you love me, and I want you to be happy and to find someone who can give that to you."

"You're not mad?"

Hermione laughed "No, relieved really. I was going to bring it up to you at some point. I was thinking about the revenge we could get on Skeeter for writing these nasty stories again but I think we might have just found our way. That is if you can help me move some of my stuff out tonight…"

 _.x._

 _24 December, 1998_

They stared at her, their mouths agape in obvious surprise at the information presented before them.

"You want to open a bookstore?" Harry stated

"In Paris of all places?" Ginny piped in

"While seven months pregnant?" Ron finished.

Hermione nodded and looked at her three friends "yes! It's always been my dream to open my own bookstore and I thought, why not now? It seemed like a good time to do it" she gave a one shoulder shrug.

"But why Paris?" Ginny said resting her elbows on the tops of her thighs.

"Well I already know French. Mum and dad took me there quite often on Holiday and-"

"You're seven months pregnant, Hermione." Harry sighed running a hand through his hair making it even messier than it already was "what if something happens? What happens when you go into labor?" he ran a hand down his face "Merlin…"

"After everything that has happened…"

"So Draco's the father, so what! Hermione," Ginny stood up and walked toward her and grabbed her hand "mum reacted strongly to the news, she doesn't hate you, you can't run away."

Hermione laughed softly "I'm not running away Gin. I'm starting over, starting new." She rested against the sofa and took her hands away from Ginny and rested them upon the large bump that now took over her front.

"What about Hogwarts?" Ron asked once again from the chair in the corner

She almost scoffed "what about it? He or she is a Malfoy, They're going to be added to the Roster and besides, I planned on leaving after they were born" she shrugged "France is only temporary anyway."

"Traveling with a baby and all its stuff? That's quite a big undertaking" Harry looked at her and pushed his glasses back in place "So the baby is born in February and then what?"

"I move to France."

"I'm going with you."

"Harry…"

"Hermione, my mind is made up. You're going to need help running the shop when you're not feeling up to it and I'll do it." He grabbed her hands off her belly and held them tightly in his "I owe you everything, Hermione. I don't know where I'd be without you."

Tears swam in her eyes and she let out a chuckle "Probably dead."

.x.

Hermione grabbed the pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the freezer and a spoon from the drawer before she sat on the couch, tucking a leg under her body. She grabbed the book that she had been reading earlier and propped it up on the arm of the couch, and placed the pint of ice cream between her belly and the book. Hogwarts: A History had always been her favorite and kept her company when she was away from home. It was a book she often found solace in. She flipped through the pages and once she was satisfied that she had found what she was looking for she set to reading.

 _In a small locked tower in Hogwarts sits an ancient book untouched by human hands since the day the four founders placed it there upon completion of the castle. Next to the peeling dragon hide book stands the quill of acceptance. The book of admittance and the quill of acceptance is the only process in which students are selected for Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. The book and the quills decision is final and no child has ever been admitted whose name has not been inscribed on the books yellowing pages. At the precise moment that a child exhibits signs of magic, the quill floats up and out of the ink pot to inscribe the name of that child in the book._

Hermione bit at her nails nervously. She didn't want to stay in England longer than she had to and she didn't want to run the risk of running into Mrs. Weasley while she was in Diagon alley and she certainly wouldn't want to run into the newly married Draco and Astoria Malfoy.

Hermione sighed and dug her spoon deeper into the ice cream. It could have been her. It should have been her. No matter how much money her parents had left her or how much the ministry threw her way for their war survivors (which she never took) she would never be pure blooded and therefore never good enough for Draco Malfoy, by his parent's standards. She had seen how proud Lucius and Narcissa looked in their photo and it hurt to know that they'd never be that proud if it were her.

She huffed and shoved the lid on her ice cream. When did she care about relationships so much? She struggled to get off the couch and remembered that fifth year was when she had started caring. Stupid charms and stupid Draco Malfoy. She made her way back into the kitchen, slowly. The ticking of the clock made her pause with one hand in the freezer on the ice cream and one hand gripping the freezer handle.

 _12:15am_

A small smile spread across her lips and her hands abandoned their previous task before gently rubbing the large bump in front of her causing the baby to squirm under her touch.

"Happy Christmas, baby. I can't wait until you're here. We'll have so much fun with our presents and our crackers and lazy days in our pajamas and all the books we'll read" she smiled "But right now I'm looking forward for you not laying on my bladder" Hermione laughed as she rushed to the toilet for the umpteenth time that night.

 _.x._

16 February, 1999

Two days after Valentine's Day is when the pain had come and Hermione had brushed it off a Braxton Hicks. There was no way she was in labor and defiantly not while she was at work. The pain had come and went throughout the day at the library and it wasn't until sometime after supper that she found herself in the back of an ambulance and soon after her hospital admittance she found herself cradling a blond hair grey eyed baby boy.

A light tap sounded from the door shaking Hermione form her memories. Harry poked his head through the door "Hermione?" he whispered.

Hermione smiled down at the baby "I'm awake Harry, You can come in."

Harry shuffled in silently shutting the door behind him. Balloons trailed behind as he made it further into the room and Hermione spotted flower sin his hand. He slowly laid the flowers down, albiet panstankly, trying not to make any noise causing Hermione to let out a chuckle.

"You don't have to be super quiet."

"I know, it's just habit I guess." He rocked on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"How did you—"

"Know you were here?" he side eyed her and smirked slightly "I was bringing you dinner. I went to your door and knocked and I waited a few minutes. I got worried and went in" he fiddled with something in his pocket and Hermione smiled knowing full well it was his wand "I saw a wet spot in the kitchen, put two and two together and found you here" He leaned over and kissed the top of her head "So this is?"

"Scorpius" Hermione glanced up "Draco had mentioned a couple of times how the Scorpius constellation as his favorite" she glanced down at the baby sadly before she looked back up at Harry "want to hold him?"

Harry nodded slowly "Sure"

Hermione moved into a more upright position and shifted the baby into Harry's waiting arms. Scorpius cooed and shifted slightly in his blankets.

"He looks so tiny, Hermione" he smiled down at the blond baby "He looks so much like Malfoy." He looked over at her and smiled "I owled Ginny before I came over, I'm sure she'll be excited to hear the news."

"I can't wait until she'll be able to see him!" she smiled, excitement laced through her voice "Harry?" she looked down at the baby in his arms "When did you give him his dummy?"

"I didn't, I didn't know he had one."

Hermione smiled and leaned back in the hospital bed thoroughly satisfied. She could leave for Paris immediately.

"So" harry said after a long bout of silence "Ginny and I were talking on valentine's day"

Hermione gasped slightly and brought her hand up to her mouth "Did you propose?"

"On valentine's day? No way." He scrunched his nose and shifted Scorpius from his weary right side to his fresh left "I did it on new year's eve." He smiled slyly "I know we haven't told you but we've all been so busy getting prepared for the move and all."

"Harry potter if you weren't holding my Son I'd jelly legs you so fast" she threatened while looking for her wand "and you're moving?"

"Hermione" Harry handed a very frustrated infant back to her, who calmed down almost instantly under his mother's touch "That's what Ginny and I were talking about. We all agreed that I'd move to France with you." Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Harry held up his hand "I know you're playing dumb but that's not something you'd forget. Anyway. Ginny thought it would be best if we both came to France, for a little while anyway." He shrugged "she has a try out there in the spring."

"A quidditch try out? Oh! That's so exciting! With who?"

"The French Fliers" he said getting up off his seated position on the bed

Hermione followed suit and laid Scorpius down in his bassinette "Speaking of careers, Harry." She turned around just in time to watch him conjure up a vase "How is the Auror thing going to work out when you're in France?"

"I finished my training and asked for a temporary transfer for a year and they granted it. Sent my paperwork by owl this morning to the Ministry in France."

Hermione laughed "only you could get a temporary transfer."

He gave her a goofy grin "Sometimes it pays to be the chosen one."

 **AN:** Surprise chapter! I'm so sorry this is so long! I had this written out (By hand, mind you.) and I decided to take Ron's involvement in a different direction which is where Mrs. Weasley comes in instead. I also wanted you to see what happened to Hermione and Ron during the dates in the last chapter. I wrote them today because I just felt like this chapter as it was originally planned didn't give much insight and was going to be very confusing. Thanks to **Guest** , **Erica18** , **Blondfirefly** , **Ardentlyadmired** , **Ditte3** and **Princess of Darkness** for reviewing and for everyone who favorited this and put it on your alerts. See you all next week!


	4. Chapter Three

_Present Day – 10 years later, 2009_

"Don't forget to grab your jumper!" Hermione yelled from the front of the tiny flat.

"Where's my star wars jumper?!" a voice yelled back

"Check in your closet dear!"

"It's not there!"

Hermione put the keys she had in her hand back on the table "I swear if I come in there and I find it—"

"Here it is!" yelled the voice back enthusiastically.

Hermione chuckled to herself as she picked the keys back up "Come on, we're going to be late!" she glanced at her watch and back down the hallway.

A small blond boy turned the corner, his shoes in one hand while he rubbed at his eye with the palm of his other. "Mum, I really don't want to go. We've all seen the Louvre! We all live in Paris!" he plopped down on the grey couch and shoved one of his trainers onto his feet and bent over to tie it "The only good part about today is that we don't have to wear those uniforms!"

Hermione smiled down at her son "Come on Scorpius, it's going to be fun! And you look so cute in those uniforms!"

He stopped tying his shoe and looked up at her, still slouched over "Mum, no on elooks 'cute in those uniforms'" he finished tying his shoes and stood up.

"Okay, how about after the museum we go see the Tour de Eiffel?"

Scorpius groaned "That's even worse!" he grabbed his jumper off the couch and pulled it on "Mum, there was a fellow named Henri Rene Albert Guy De Maupassant who hated the Eiffel tower so much that he ate lunch under it every day just so he didn't have to look at it." He made his way to the door and glanced back at his mum "I think I'm started to understand where he was coming from."

Hermione laughed "Well then how about this, in two weeks we'll have a Maupassant style prtest and have a picnic under the tower?"

Scorpius groaned making Hermione snigger "Then we'd have to go back and see it up close."

"Okay, okay, let's go." She picked up his backpack "I think that your American pen pal would love a souvenir" She smiled and handed him the bag before ushering him out of the door.

The pair jogged down the steps of their flat building and out the door into the chilly fall morning air. It was a quiet walk from their flat to the metro station, it usually was.

"Couldn't we use the floo network into the bookshop for once? It's getting cold out." The blond boy whined and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Hermione looked down at him and smiled sadly. How much he looked like his father; from the blond hair to the stone grey eyes and pointy chin. The only thing Hermione was convinced he had inherited from her was her curls which fell in large loose ringlets framing his face. They stopped just above his eyebrows and ended at the nape of his neck.

"No, we cannot. We know what happened the last time we used the floo." Hermione swiped her card and went through the gate only going a few steps before she stopped and waited for Scorpius. When he made it though she smiled and moved the hair off his fore head, in which he shook it back.

"Yeah but my eyebrows grew back didn't they?"

"They did" she chuckled as the pair made their way to the platform "But we gave Emeline a fright and I don't think there's been a fire in that fireplace since."

Scorpius chuckled and held onto the straps of his backpack "okayyyy but could you at least think about it? At least when it snows?"

Hermione nodded "I'll think about it, but you so love waddling through the snow banks" she nudged him a little as she guided him onto the train and sat next to him.

"Yeah but I'm ten now. Too grown up to waddle through snowbanks." He huffed crossing his arms. The toes of his trainers touched the floor of the metro train and made Hermione wonder when he had gotten so big.

The pair rode in silence. Scorpius took out his Nintendo DS and started to play Pokémon while Hermione got lost in thought. She thought about how she didn't want him to go to Beauxbatons even though she knew he was destined for Hogwarts. She thought about how moving back to England after so long would probably be traumatic but she wasn't sure who it would be more traumatic for.

The metro stopped with a jerk and woke Hermione from her reverie "Come on Scorp." The gently tapped his shoulder and held onto the strap of his backpack to guide him off the metro and onto the platform safely as his nose was still stuck in his game.

The pair walked up the stairs and into the bright sunlight causing both of them to squint at the same time. Hermione chuckled a bit and stood in front of Scorpius who was still engrossed in his game.

"Game off." Hermione commented and waited a second while Scorpius sighed and snapped his game shut. He looked up at her and shoved his game into his pocket "We're going to have fun today, yeah?" she adjusted his jumper and fussed about his hair. When she dropped her hand away from his bangs Scorpius brought up his own hand to mess up what she had done "I know art can be a bit boring to ten year old boys but don't forget that Uncle Harry will be here tonight and he's bringing Albus with him."

"YEAH!" Scorpius jumped up with a fist in the air "I can show him my new Ninja Turtles!"

She chuckled and nodded "Definitely show him Rafael!" he nodded enthusiastically "and before you ask" she held up a finger at Scorpius' open mouth "Uncle harry said that you can stay at their house for the Holidays" She smiled as Scorpius jumped up and down "But for fall break you're only going to be there until November first, I'd like to spend some time with my favorite son before he goes back to school."

"I'm your only son!" he laughed.

"You are?" Hermione feigned confusion "I could have worn there was another blond boy about this tall" she held a hand up to Scorpius' shoulders "Now there is this taller blond boy who comes up to my shoulders. Surely there must be another?"

"It was me!" he laughed

Hermione put a hand on her chin before she broke into a smile "Too right you are." She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and looked down at her son.

"Oi! Malfoy!"

Scorpius' head whipped around in the direction of the voice and grinned "Gotta go mum! Marcus said yesterday that he had something really cool to show me" his eyes lit up "I hope it's the dead toad he found in his garden!" He ran off in Marcus' direction leaving Hermione to walk to the school alone sincerely hoping that it wasn't a dead toad.

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco scoffed slightly as a bus full of children disembarked. This was the last thing he had wanted during his visit to the Louvre. It wasn't that he hated children, he was sure he'd quite like his own should he have met him, it was just that he hated them in large quantities. They were always noisy and rambunctious and they made it a point to never listen to their chaperones.

He wasn't on holiday, it was just a detour. He spent most of his time at his chateau making sure that the famous Superior red wine from the Malfoy Apothecary was going well as well as brewing up some new potions he had created while he wasn't in the office. The lavender that he grew at the Chateaux was essential in almost everything he had created, from hair tonic to mending heart aches. He grumbled slightly as a small blond boy ran into him breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry mister!" the boy said before running off again. Draco stared after him and shook his head, it couldn't have been. He sighed and shook his head.

"Don't run you two!" a female voice called after them. Draco recognized the bossy tone, something he had grown up with for seven years. She couldn't have been here of all places. He imagined finding her in her bookshop or in a small café. Something romantic. He rolled his eyes at his own thought, Hermione had always joked about him always being too romantic. He smirked to himself as he recalled how much she loved it.

Draco silently prayed to Salazar that he'd get the chance to run into them. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He could always come back later, imagining that his fantasies of finding her in her bookshop could come true. He shook his head and rolled his eyes trudging up to the ticket booth.

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself hugging her oversized grey jumper tighter to her body. The room was freezing and her skinny black jeans and grey slip on trainers added no warmth. The fishtail braid she had done that morning was doing a fine job of keeping her neck warm but what she wouldn't have done for the jacket she had left on the back of Scorpius' chair at school.

"mum." Scorpius whined from a nearby bench "I'm tired of this room Marcus said that there's a really bloody painting in the next room, can we go see it?"

Hermione looked away from the Degas painting she had been staring at "next room?" Scorpius nodded "and Marcus and his mum are there?" he nodded again "Okay." She glanced to the archway that led into the next exhibit "Yu can go but you can't go any further! And you must listen to Marcus' mum." She moved away from the painting slightly and spotted a curly mass of red locks belonging to Mrs. O'Houland "it better not be too bloody!" Hermione called after him as he practically galloped into the next room.

Hermione focused back on the painting before her and smiled. The three ballerinas warming up was her favorite Degas painting and had reminded her of when she was little and wanted to grow up to be a ballerina who also owned a library. A ballerina librarian she had often called herself causing her to chuckle, some things never changed.

"I don't see anything funny about this painting, do you, Granger?"

The chuckle died in Hermione's throat and her stomach clenched. She closed her eyes tightly hoping that the voice didn't belong to who she thought it did. How long had he been standing there? The ice pooled in her veins.

"Nothing about the painting in particular is funny, Malfoy." She stared straight ahead at the painting, not even looking at it anymore.

"If I remember correctly" his deep vibrato danced over her skin like silk "this muggle painter was your favorite" he paused "something about ballerinas and Librarians."

Hermione's head jerked toward him and as soon as she did, she wished she didn't. He looked good. His hair was styled differently, in a small pompadour faded at the sides. Much different than his slicked back hair from third year and his shaggy hair from fourth year on. His jaw had filled in a bit with age but his eyes were as grey as ever. He wore a pair of brown boots, blue jeans, a grey v neck tee shirt and a thick green cardigan.

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly "So what brings you to France?" more specifically the Louvre? If I remember correctly you said your family had quite an impressive art collection."

He chuckled and the sound sent shivers down Hermione's spine "I could ask you the same." He shoved his hands in his pockets "I live in a chateaux about thirty minutes from Paris." He shrugged and Hermione snorted shooting a glance to the adjacent room "and I believe, Granger, that wizards can enjoy muggle artists. There's no law against that, is there?" he smirked as Hermione opened and closed her mouth "and the Louvre is open to the public."

Hermione inhaled deeply "I've lived here for the past ten years." She blinked and moved her head toward the painting again "and I volunteer with the school down the street from my bookshop." She caught the curly read hair coming toward her "There's a teacher now" She fibbed "I have to go. See you around!" She glanced toward him and gave a small wave rushing toward Mrs. O'Houland.

"You okay, 'Mione? Looks like you just saw a ghost!"

"Yeah." She looked back towards Draco but he was gone "Yeah I'm fine." She smiled at the blond boy walking up to her "Scorp, show me that painting, yeah?"

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco rounded the corner as soon as she left and pressed his back into the wall as hard as he could. His palms were sweaty and his hands were shaking. After ten years of being away from her she was there. She had looked the same, age had treated her well. She was still beautiful, he was sure she always would be. She had still smelled of Lavender and Sandlewood and her eyes were still bright. He exhaled quickly and peeked around the corner. She had her arm around the same blond boy that had ran into him earlier. His breath caught in his throat.

His son.

 **AN:** We're finally getting into the story! All chapters from here on out will be in present day so more than likely there won't be any dates to the top. I'm also going to be throwing in flashback chapters to aid to the story, so my question to you is, how would you like to know that they're flash backs? Italics? Dates at top? Authors Note at the top instead of the bottom? Feedback on this will be much appreciated Thanks to everyone who favorited this story, put this story on their alerts and to **Princess of Darkness17** , **blondfirefly** , **Ardentlyadmired** , **Danikae** , **Unknownsoul-x** , **TeamCullenPotterJackson** & **Green Eyed Lana Lee** for reviewing! **MarySueDraco** since you're a guest I can't directly respond to you but I hope that through some flashback chapters I can calm your fears about making her pathetic . I look forward to next week!


	5. Chapter Four

Draco, Ministry Of Magic level 2: Department of magical law, 9 December 2002

 _"Have you found her?" Draco looked up from his desk to the dark male that slipped into his office between two flying memos that landed gently on Draco's desk._

 _"I did." In a fluid motion he sat down in the chair and plopped his shoes on the desk in front of him._

 _Draco stared at him, watching the man pick at his nails. There was something he wasn't telling him and Draco was staring at him so hard that he could have sworn his eyes were about to pop out of his skull "Blaise, tell me damn it!"_

 _The dark man moved his eyes to his pale friend "she's in Paris. France if you were wondering." He gave a one shoulder shrug._

 _Draco narrowed his eyes "why would I be wondering?"_

 _"Because there's about 10 places in America with a town named Paris, mate." He moved his feet off the desk and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of them "but she wasn't alone"_

 _Draco narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his chair "what do you mean?" His chest hurt, had she moved on? After her very public debacle with Ron he wasn't sure, and it wasn't like he had been Prince Charming himself and his very public 'relationship' with Astoria had shown he had moved on from his involvement in the war, she might have seen it as him moving on from her, but he never had._

 _"She was uh..." Blaise scratched at the back of his neck before he fiddled with the sleeves of his navy blue suit "she was with a boy of about four."_

 _Draco felt his chest implode. Not only had she moved on, but she had a child by the bastard. Probably a muggle with a stupid muggle job. Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, muggles were not stupid. Just this muggle was._

 _"Good for her. I suppose you saw her husband then?"_

 _Blaise shook his head "no, she was just with the boy. He uh... he looks a lot like his father, actually."_

 _"Good for him" Draco sneered at the folded note that had landed on his desk._

 _"Mate. This child. This boy" he ran his hands down his face "blimey. I'm not sure this is how she wanted you to find out, but he's yours mate"_

 _Draco stared at him, dumbfounded. Blaise stared back._

 _"Mine?"_

 _Blaise nodded "he looks just like you mate." He knitted his brow and started fumbling around in his pockets "after we 'ran into each other' she had to go to work and I walked her there. Snagged this off the counter when she went off to help and then..."_

 _"Just... just show me the photograph, Blaise" Draco held out his hand for the tiny photo. His eyes followed Blaise's hand as he placed the photograph into his palm._

 _Upside down._

 _Of course he had placed it upside down. Silently Draco was glad that he did. With his other hand shaking slightly he flipped the photo over and he felt his heart squeeze in his chest like someone was squeezing a orange for fresh juice. Tears prickled the corners of his eyes and he inhaled sharply threatening the tears to come. Malfoy's didn't cry. At least they didn't cry in front of one of their best mates._

 _His grey eyes scanned over the photograph again. It wasn't moving and he wasn't surprised, Hermione had explained it to him as she showed him a photo of her parents and her from the first summer they spent apart. The boy had his grey eyes, his pointy chin and his platinum hair. Malfoy genes, no mistaking that. He had the shape of Hermione's eyes, her small nose and her curly hair. His teeth were small and a little gappy but Draco thought it added to the boy's charm._

 _"His name?" He finally choked out after what felt like a lifetime of not talking._

 _"I don't know mate. She never brought him up when we ran into each other. It was like the boy on her hip wasn't even there. I'm sorry."_

 _Draco ran his hands down his face again before standing up "I have to go find her. I need to go find her. She has my son! She- She!" He threw his hands up "she's there! She's there, with my son!" He breathed heavily and rested one hand on his hip and one on his neck "I've been searching everywhere for her, Blaise. For four years I've been searching and she's been under my bloody nose the entire time. And she's a mother. A mother tommy child!" He threw his hands up exasperated and placed them promptly on his hips "I'm a father..." he whispered._

 _A small knock came at the door causing Draco's heart to sink. Had someone heard them? Was she here to spill her secrets? Apologize for the four years Draco missed with his son? He had a son. A piece of him. A piece of her. His heart sank even further, was this boy a painful memory of what could have been for her? What never ended for him?_

 _"Uh, Draco?" Theodore Nott held a piece of parchment "this came for you, it's urgent." He trust his arm out and Draco took it, reading it over before disapperateing on the spot._

 _.x._

 _"Darling, it's time to get ready." Astoria walked over to Draco and ran a hand over his shoulders. "I know this is hard for you but we've got to get going. We can't be late."_

 _Draco sighed and pushed himself away from the desk "for the last four years all I wanted for him to do is die. He was a coward" he stood and walked to the closet he shared with Astoria and pulled out his best pair of dragon hide dress shoes "if he had cared about his family at all, he wouldn't have ran so willingly back to him." He chewed on his bottom lip "the things he said, they were terrible. Of course I didn't realize it until..." he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his wife. Her blond hair cascaded down her shoulders and pooled at her waist in gentle curls, she was dressed smartly in a black turtle neck with a large diamond brooch at the neck. Her pants were a bit wide at the bottom but only enough to show off the black dragon hide heels she slipped on earlier. Every bit of her was stunning, but every bit of him was unattractive to her._

 _She bit her lip and smiled sadly down at him "I'm glad you're wearing that suit. Your mother will love it."_

 _"It was what we got married in, just with a black button up instead of emerald" he muttered as he bent down to tie his shoes._

 _Astoria knelt down and put her hands on Draco's knees "I don't know how long you were planning on keeping it from me" she smiled a bit "but you found her. Blaise told me she's in Paris!"_

 _"What else did Blaise tell you?"_

 _"That there's a picture of a little boy in your wallet and how before your father had passed away you were going to see her. I'm so happy for you, darling."_

 _"He's doing well." Draco said after a beat "Theodore that is. He misses you terribly, but he's doing well." He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder "and he can't wait to dance with you at the Christmas party."_

 _Astoria smiled "are you going to be there or are you going to be in Paris?"_

 _Draco smiled slightly and bent back down "Paris, on ministry business. Of course, you'll need a chaperone and I happen to know just the chap..."_

 _Astoria laughed slightly and stood up and walked out, pausing at the door frame "I know what you were doing with the whole Theodore bit, Draco. But, if you don't mind, when we return I'd like to see the photo of your son, and I'd like to talk more about this." She looked over her shoulder before walking out._

 **Authors Note:** I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm not sure if I'm going to go further into Draco going to Paris for the first time. I also hope this clears up the last chapter about Draco knowing he had a son. I'm not sure how I'm going to do flashbacks and if they're going to be consistent to the story or just little flashbacks for the sake of looking back on their life and how they got to one another. This story isn't turning out how I wanted it to in the first place (don't worry, it's a good thing) so we'll see how these flashbacks work, They're not going to be as long as normal chapters I know that for a fact. I think I'm done with this part of the authors note? As per usual thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites/alerts and to **Ditte3** , **Guest** , **blondfirefly** & **Green Eyed Lana Lee** for reviewing! See you all next week!


	6. Chapter Five

"Harry!" Hermione jumped as he flew out of her fireplace. Albus followed closely behind

"Sorry we're a bit early" Harry turned to face his son and started dusting him off "Gin wanted us out of the house while she wrote her first Quidditch Weekly article." He waved his wand and silently cleaned the soot off Hermione's immaculate floors "she was a bit miffed about it."

Hermione laughed slightly "Understandable. I'm glad you're here early though, I made supper!" Hermione nodded toward the kitchen "I was on my way to get Scorpius"

"You didn't have to feel the need to accommodate us"

Hermione rolled her eyes "I just made a pot roast with Potatoes. It's Scorpius' favorite and wit him being gone for two weeks I won't be able to eat it all by myself." Harry nodded in defeat and Hermione smiled "Albus, why don't you go get Scorpius? He's back in his room."

"YES!" Albus ran down the hallway into his friend's room. Hermione listened to the door click knowing she had a few minutes while Scorpius turned off his game.

"I saw him" Hermione turned to harry.

"What?! Where?! More importantly, when?!"

"When we got to the louvre! Scorpius ran into him, only I didn't know it was him. There are a lot of blond men in the world, harry" She scolded as Harry made a face "Anyway, I was standing admiring the Degas painting when Scorpius got restless so I sent him into the next exhibit with his friend Marcus so I could look at the painting" She sat down on the couch leaning forward a bit "not too long after that he came up to me." Hermione glanced over to Harry who had taken a seat next to her "what if he saw Scorpius? What am I going to do?"

Harry clasped his hands in front of him and sighed "I think you should tell him, Hermione."

She scoffed "Yes I should tell him 'Oh, hello Draco sorry to spring this on you so sudden but you have a ten year old son! Hope Astoria is doing well!' don't be so daft, Harry" She rubbed her face and sighed deeply.

"Well…" Harry paused obviously choosing his words carefully "I think—I think you should tell him no matter what." He glanced over at her and basked in the glow of the bewildered look on her face, it wasn't often that he caught her off guard.

"Dad!" Albus ran up to Harry holding a Ninja Turtle and Hermione was silently thankful for Albus' interruption "I definitely am going to ask Santa for one of these! Look! Karate chop action!" Albus grinned as he pressed a button on the back repeatedly.

Harry grinned at his son "Dully noted! Hey!" He laughed as the arm of the turtle came in contact with his own. Hermione smiled as she watched the boys interact with Harry and she was very thankful he was such a constant feature in Scorpius' life.

 _.xx._

After they settled down, they all ate supper. Albus told Scorpius all about his new broom and Scorpius told Albus all about the dead toad his school mate had found in his garden. Harry made pleasant dinner conversation with Hermione; about the Auror department and the raids they'd been on recently; the paperwork and how Albus and James had been invited to Dudley's son's ninth birthday. Hermione was pleased that Harry didn't steer the conversation back to Draco. After pudding the boys ran back into Scorpius' room to make sure he had all of his Ninja Turtles before they departed.

"Okay! We're ready!" Scorpius yelled bounding down the hall, Leonardo clasped tightly in his hand "I can't wait to Floo! Mum won't Floo into the bookshop because we scared Emeline once" He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"And you burned off your eyebrows!" Hermione laughed

"Alright!" harry clasped his hands together "Albus you'll go first, Mum should be waiting" He grabbed a royal purple bag out of the pocket of his jeans. Albus opened the bag and grabbed a handful and walked into the fireplace.

"Number 7 Godric's Hollow!" the boy cried out and in an instant he was engulfed by emerald green flames.

"Okay Scorpius, your turn" Harry held the bag out and Scorpius took a handful.

"Be good" Hermione said hugging Scorpius close "Listen to your Aunt and Uncle and for Merlin's sake please don't go too high or too fast on that broom."

"Okay Mum" Scorpius wrapped an arm around her "I can't breathe—you're suffocating me!"

"Oh, sorry" Hermione let him go and walked behind him to the fireplace.

"See you in two weeks! Bye mum! Love you!"

Hermione smiled "love you too, Scorp!"

"Number 7 Godric's Hollow!"

Hermione watched as the green flames devoured her son before she turned her attention to harry "Thank you" She smiled "for taking him. He loves the visits with you guys and I know he's already counting down the days until Christmas holidays."

"You're welcome" Harry said grabbing some floo powder himself "The boys love having Scorpius and so do we." He gave Hermione a quick hug before stepping into the fireplace "Think about what I said before, Hermione. You should tell him. I know that if I had a son that I didn't know about id' be upset about missing the first ten years." And with that Harry shouted out his destination leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts.

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco woke early the next day. There were things he had to do before he scoured Paris for the bookshop Hermione owned. He supposed he could have sent his house elf to go look for her while he did what he needed to get done but he was easily reminded Hermione's firm stance on house elves. He chuckled slightly as he remembered placing a S.P.E.W badge on the inside of his robes and how it had come unclasped and poked him while he and Hermione snogged in their favorite library nook.

He sighed slightly at the memory before he slipped out of bed and into the shower. Afterwards he got dressed in a pair of dark washed jeans, a pair of trainers and his favorite grey seater before he set off toward the winery to check on the wine with his thoughts entirely on something different than thousand year old wine.

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione glanced at the tall blond standing next to her and placed the book in her hand down onto the counter "Twenty copies of _Let's make a deal: The art of bidding at garage sales and beyond_ "

The blond nodded and scribbled a note "`ermione, you `ave been quiet today. Vat is wrong?"

Hermione sighed and stood up placing a heavy box on the counter "Well, if you must know, I saw Scorpius' father yesterday." She pulled the box cutter out of her back pocket and cut into the box.

"you seem upset about it, vhy?"

She placed the box cutter down on the counter and turned around "Emeline," she leaned on the counter and crossed her arms "I don't know. It's just- ten years I see him? The first words he says to me is 'I don't see anything funny about this painting, do you?' and he couldn't even say my name. It was like we were back in school." She pushed herself off the counter and grabbed the books she had just finished counting "and you know what? He had the nerve" she paused and loaded more books into her arms "really, really good."

Emeline laughed "zat zere is vat is bothering you!" she started to dig into the box Hermione had opened "vat does he look like?"

Hermione smiled and shifted the books in her arms "tall, handsome and his blond hair looked so soft and his eys were still grey like cobblestone but were inviting and warm. Eyes you could get lost in."

"`e sound very `ansome and you still sound very smitten `Ermione." She winked at Hermione who rolled her eyes and made her way to the back with the twenty copies of _Let's Make a Deal._

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco looked down at the ground as he walked, kicking a rock out of his way. He had been in the city since noon and had city information make him a list of all the bookshops in town. He didn't realize how many there were and four hours later he cleared the majority of his list. There were ten minutes to check this bookshop before it closed and before he had to start again tomorrow.

He kicked the rock again and looked up at the sign hanging

La Petite Librarie

He glanced at the building and silently agreed that it was indeed _Petite_. It was shoved between a coffee shop and a hat shop, almost like it was an afterthought. He took a deep breath and pushed the blue door open.

"`ello!"

He was greeted by a tall blond woman causing his heart to sink a little "Bonjour."

"Just to let you know, ve close in teen minutes!" she smiled as she took the box off the counter "but ve open tomorrow at nine!"

Draco nodded "I'll be quick."

"Emeline!" Draco's heart fluttered as he saw her. Her hair was up in a poufy pony tail. A sweater as blue as the front door adorned her torso with La Petite Librarie written on the front while a pair of skinny jeans and white converse decorated the rest of her. Her face made the butterflies in his stomach start to flutter, even with the little dirt smudge on her nose. She was beautiful "I think we can go ahead and close up-"

"Hi." He silently cursed himself. After yesterday's word vomit he could have come up with something better than what he just did.

He watched as she tensed, just like she had yesterday. "What are you doing here Malfoy?" Her hands went to hips, one still clutching the book.

"Ouch." He placed a hand on his chest "is that any way to talk to paying customers?" he drawled, his eyes never moving from her.

"We're closed." She said pointing at the door.

He pulled his hand off his checked and looked at his Rolex "by my watch you still have five minutes."

"And by my watch we're closed."

He inhaled sharply. Merlin she had just grown more stubborn since Hogwarts "I'm glad I found you Granger. You disappeared so quickly yesterday that I was unable to as you for coffee-"

"oh, Um." Hermione paused looking around. Her chocolate brown eyes darted from shelf to shelf, anywhere, he noticed, but him.

"Yes." Draco looked over at the Emeline "`er answer is yes."

Draco looked away from Emeline and to Hermione who looked like she could do much worse than a Jelly Legs Jinx right about now. "Great." He smirked and looked at Hermione with an eyebrow raised "Be out in ten." He strode toward the door and turned back to look at her "Oh, Granger. You have a bit of dirt on your nose, by the way." He pointed to his nose and smirked slightly as her hands covered her nose. He winked at the two girls and walked out with a skip in his step.

 _.xx._

Draco leaned on the brick outside, his hands shoved in his pockets nervously. He didn't think he'd find her today and was quite taken aback that she didn't quite say 'no' but that her friend had said yes for her. He had assumed she would have said No because of Scorpius.

"Emeline is going to close shop. Practically kicked me out." He watched as she pulled on a pair of gloves, her sweater was hidden beneath a trench coat. He had to admit that it was pretty chilly out and he wished he had brought his own coat. "Where to, Malfoy?"

He inhaled sharply his last name being used like it was knife. What he wouldn't give to hear her speak his name again, but he hadn't exactly used hers either. "I thought that since you're so central to all of Paris' hot spots that we'd go to the Cafeotheque of Paris."

"A muggle café?" she narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion.

He shrugged and glanced down at her, suppressing a smile "Wizarding France is not something I'm acquainted well with. I've lived here for about eight years and I've barely touched foot in the wizarding world." He looked down at her as they started to walk. She was tense again. "Thirty minutes north of here in the Malfoy Chateau. The only reason I come here to Paris is for the ministry."

Hermione seemed to relax at the mention of the ministry. "So you work for the ministry?"

He nodded and kept his pace slow to match hers "in the department of International Magical Law."

"Oh." Hermione looked up at him before she quickly looked away. Had she always looked this sad these past ten years? Was that his fault?

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione sat down at the table clutching a steaming mug in her hand. The walk to the Cafeotheque was strained conversations and awkward silence. The café didn't change that. If it wasn't for Emeline and her love of happy endings she wouldn't be here. No matter how many times she had told Emeline that he was married she insisted and basically pushed Hermione out the door. It wasn't for lack of wanting to see him, it was because she wanted to and the fact that he was still married was not a path she wanted to take again.

"So" she raised the cup to her mouth and took a sip of the tea she had ordered "the department of Magical law? I never seen you in law enforcement. You're a rather skilled potioneer." She paused a second and took another sip of her tea "So you saw a lot of Harry then. In the office?"

Draco shook his head "not often. The Auror department is on a different level and since transferring to France." He shrugged "haven't seen him at all."

Hermione nodded and took a sip of her tea "I just saw him yesterday he came to pick up-" Hermione choked on her tea and looked up at him "dinner. He and his son Albus came by for supper and picked some up for Ginny." She cleared her throat "they got married not long after you and Astoria." She looked down at her cup "how is she?"

She felt his eyes burn holes in her skull "you didn't hear?" Hermione shook her head instinctively "she died. Five years ago. Blood curse." He muttered

"Oh Draco." Hermione put her hand on his forearm and felt lighting shoot up through her limb. She shouldn't have touched him but she couldn't jerk her hand away now "I'm so sorry, it must be terribly difficult for you."

He nodded slightly "yes." He glanced down at her hand touching his arm and she promptly moved her hand away "we we're best friends than anything else. My father was never too happy that we didn't have children."

Hermione nodded slightly and looked into her tea cup "she was Daphne's sister, wasn't she?"

Draco nodded "yeah, really lovely family." Hermione bit her lip before she took a sip of her tea. The pair sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Thank you, for the tea." Hermione raised her eyes to look at the man in front of her and gave him a small smile. He had looked so tired, so sad, so lonely.

"My pleasure, Hermione." He drawled before raising his cup to his lips. Hermione felt a shiver down her spine and realized she was staring at the man drinking his latte.

A loud clash from somewhere in the café startled Hermione. She stood up, her hands started sweating, her heart raced and her eyes darted around the café looking for the danger. She reached instinctively for her wand and when it wasn't there she realized that she had been standing. She took a few deep breaths "I really should be going." She grabbed her purse and slipped it over her shoulder.

"So soon? But we just got here." He frowned a bit, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows.

"There are things that I have to take care of." She chewed on her bottom lip and stood up. Draco followed suit. She almost laughed. Always a gentleman, always remembering his upbringing.

"Alright." He looked resigned "thank you, for joining me, Hermione."

Hermione smiled and nodded "it was lovely to see you again, Draco. Maybe we'll run into each other often."

He nodded and she smiled toward him before she walked out of the cafe. It took every ounce of power she had not to run out and run home and cry. Panic attacks were something that she was used to, something she could easily have controlled but not in front of Draco and not without her wand.

 **Authors note:** So this is a REALLY LONG chapter and I apologize. I hand write everything and then I come to the library to type it up, so I never know how long or how short they're going to be until I'm done typing. It's Monday so maybe this will be good enough for the rest of the week and into next week until we can meet again. Thanks to **GrahamGirl93** , **Blondfirefly** , **percabethbooklion** and **guest** for reviewing. Also a huge thanks to everyone who put this story on their alert list, making it my number one alert story! Many, many thanks! I hope this chapter flowed and was easy enough to understand. As always, see you next week!


	7. Chapter six

Hermione stormed into the bookshop and slammed the door behind her. She had slept horribly after basically running as fast as she could away from Draco during the midst of a mild panic attack. Throughout the night she had night terrors linked to the mild ptsd she was so thoughtfully gifted from the war. Her terrors drifted from Voldemort to Bellatrix and had her waking up with her wand in her hand and a hole in the wall.

Hermione sat at her desk and pulled the sleeves up from her sweater and ran her fingers over the scar on her left arm.

 _Mudblood._

A term from the past that leaked into the present, a constant reminder of what she fought so hard for. A word that Scorpius had seen etched on her skin with the knowledge that it wasn't a kind word. Hermione had spared Scorpius the details of the war, of her involvement. When they had moved into their apartment she cast a silencing charm every night on her room. There were often times Scorpius had ended up in her room and on more than one occasion he had comforted her.

"'ermione?" Emeline poked her head in the door way of the office "I eard ze door slam, es everyzing okay?"

She pulled the sleeve of her jumper down and looked up and smiled slightly "everything is fine I'm just... tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

Emeline slipped into the office and sat in front of the desk "`ow was your coffee last night?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Fine." Hermione shrugged "we stayed for thirty minutes then I left." She exhaled deeply "I panicked and I didn't know what else to."

"Zen zat must be why `e is here." She raised her eyebrows. "I saw him waiting outside when I came to check on you."

Hermione jumped up from the desk "no, no, no, no." She peeked out of her office and placed her hand to her forehead "I left last night telling him I had things to take care of when honestly I just sat at home eating a microwave lasagna watching the proposal."

"Vat do you vant me to do with `im?"

Hermione sighed and looked at Emeline "nothing. I can't turn away potential customers." She chewed on her bottom lip and retreated back into the office.

"`e is very cute, 'mione" Emeline stuck her head further out of the office door "eef you do not want `em I zink we could live `appily togetzer."

"Oh poor poor Baptiste!" Hermione laughed sitting down at the desk again. She raised her wrist to check the time.

"`e will be fine." Emeline turned away from the door and sauntered over to Hermione. Baptiste was a tall man with skin that reminded Hermione of melted chocolate. More often than not he wore his hair short and a goatee decorated his dark features. Glasses often framed his face and he often carried a briefcase on his way to teach. Emeline was smitten with him, and it wasn't hard for Hermione to see why.

Emeline was the epitome of a model. She had long legs that Hermione often found herself jealous of and thanks to her mother's Spaniard side, she had a light glow on her skin year around. Her eyes were the color of freshly mown grass thanks to her father's Irish side and her brown hair spilled in a silken sheet down her back.

Seeing Baptiste and Emeline together made Hermione's heart ache, but she was happy for them and knew that when Emeline said he would be fine, she believed her.

"`ave you noticed anyzing different?" Emeline reached up with her left hand and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Hermione gasped and jumped up quickly grabbing her hand "he proposed?!"

"Last night!" Emeline basically screamed "ve wanted to tell you but we zought Zatz you would be busy." She nodded out the door.

Hermione shook her head and looked down at the ring "oh it's beautiful! Congratulations!" She dropped her friends hand and wrapped her arms around her tightly "where did he propose at?"

"Disneyland!" She giggled "right in front of ze castle! Eet took us an hour to get zere with ze traffic but eet was magical!" Emeline clutched her hands together at her heart and closed her eyes.

Hermione understood. Magic, no matter real or mass produced, was always felt. She felt it flow through her veins when she touched her wand, when she held Scorpius tightly and when her hand had collided with Draco's arm. Magic was love and love was magic. She had felt both.

She glanced at her wrist again and walked through the door, silently dreading the blond on the outside "that's really special!" Hermione smiled back at Emeline "I know how much Disneyland means to you two." She slipped behind the counter.

Emeline smiled and shook her head "no, you `ave to open ze door. Eet is not my ex-boyfriend on ze other side." She grabbed Hermione by the hand "`e looks a lot like Scorpius."

Hermione stopped and shook her head "he doesn't know."

"Vot?"

"He doesn't know." She repeated

"Vot do you mean he doesn't know?"

Hermione turned away from the door "he doesn't know because I haven't told him." Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, it was never too early to have a Draco induced headache "he left me shortly after we left school and went and got married to someone else. He never knew." She glanced behind her and saw Draco's back "I wrote him a letter. But I never sent it. I carry it in my bag just in case I'm feeling jumpy."

Emeline looked at Hermione "zo we do not tell `em?" Hermione shook her head and Emeline nodded "zen we do not tell. Zere is nozing to tell." Emeline placed her hands on Hermione's shoulders and smiled "but you should tell 'em zoon. 'E deserves to know."

"Now you're sounding like Harry." Hermione muttered and turned around to open the door. Emeline laughed and made her way behind the counter and leaned over a bridal magazine Hermione only assumed she placed there this morning. She inhaled slightly and unlocked the door causing Draco to turn around. "Hello."

"Hi." He adjusted his scarf and looked around "you're open?" Hermione nodded and Draco's face flooded with relief "thank Merlin." He muttered and held the door open as Hermione retreated back into the store "its bloody cold out there!"

Emeline looked up from her magazine and smiled "eet iz October, sir."

Hermione glanced at Emeline who straightened up and muttered something about grabbing something from the back and promptly left.

"What are you doing here, Draco?" She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

"You left so suddenly yesterday, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

Hermione nodded and slid behind the counter "yes, I told you that I had things to do."

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly "I know what a panic attack looks like-"

"Is there anything you needed, Draco?" Hermione placed her hands gently on the counter trying not to inhale his cologne too deeply. He always smelled good.

His tongue flicked over his bottom lip before he spoke "to ask you to dinner. To catch up."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she paused a second before she responded. "Actually," she cleared her throat her eyes glancing quickly at his mouth before traveling up to his eyes "tonight is a terrible night. Eme just got engaged and, and they're throwing a party."

Draco nodded and shrugged "okay."

Hermione knitted her rows together in confusion "okay?"

Draco nodded "okay." He leaned in on the counter. Hermione took a step back, unable to trust herself if he had gotten any closer. "I can't make you say yes, but I can always ask." He smirked slightly and Hermione felt her knees weaken "see you tomorrow, granger." He winked and turned around walking out the door in one fluid motion.

"Ze tension between you two..." Emeline poked her head out from behind a bookshelf and dramatically fanned herself with her hand.

 _ **.xx.**_

The next day Draco walked up to La Petite Librarie with a tea in one hand and a wish in the other. A wish for her not to look so beautiful even in jeans and a hooded jumper. A wish for her to stop biting her bottom lip before he did it for her and a wish for her to say yes to dinner with him.

He had a lot to explain and he didn't know where to start.

The bell rang and the blond behind the counter looked up at him and he found himself disappointed that it wasn't his brunette.

"Bonjour!" She smiled and Draco nodded in return "is zere anyzing I can help you with?"

"Yes" he walked up to the counter and noticed the bridal magazine laying open. This was Eme. "Can you tell me where to find Hermione?"

"She es not in today. Eet is er day off. She usually doesn't take days off but she had this one planned. She ees in London, visiting."

Draco cursed under his breath. "Thank you mademoiselle." He gave her a smile and walked into an aisle of books. She was probably visiting Potter, taking his son over to see Albus. Draco had never met Albus and thought it was quite a ridiculous name for the boy but Potter talked fondly of him when he and Draco had to work together. He was careful to never mention to Draco that he had seen his son on multiple occasions and Potter never told him he had a son.

Draco scoffed to the books in front of him and took a sip of the tea he had brought originally for Hermione. His fingers slid over the spines of the books and he realized he was in the sports section. Muggle sports were interesting, but nothing held a flame to Quidditch.

Draco paused, his cup half way up to his mouth again. The Quidditch season had been over for a while and if she had this visit planned then maybe she was visiting Weasel and Potter. He knitted his brow in frustration.

"That's why she's saying no to dinner." He muttered to himself as he sifted through the shelves "she's dating weasel." He scowled.

 _.xx._

Draco sat at his desk and closed his eyes tightly. He felt a headache coming on and it wasn't from Magical Law. He had been to Hermione's bookshop every morning before appearing at the ministry and every morning she wasn't there. Draco knew she was stubborn but he didn't remember her ever being this stubborn. Within the week she had been absent he came to the realization that she was not dating weasel thanks to the prophet running a story about how he had gotten engaged to a witch a few years below them at Hogwarts. He felt ridiculously relieved at the fact she wasn't with weasel and decided that he slept the best he had that night than he had in a long while. He huffed slightly and left his desk, he wasn't going to get any work done today, not with her on his mind and the headache growing.

 _ **.xx.**_

Half past twelve Hermione opened the door to her tiny flat, relieved to be home. The trip to Australia had taken a toll on her as it always did. The physical exhaustion was terrible but the mental exhaustion was even worse. She had been unable to restore her parent's memories following the war so every year she travelled to Australia to see them. Wendell and Monica Wilkins had a golden retriever they walked every morning at 10, a thriving dental business and plenty of friends. She didn't have to worry about them, they were thriving.

She missed her parents, not the watered down Australian version but her actual parents. She sighed and kicked off her shoes before padding into the kitchen for tea. She opened up the cupboard and quickly shut it, remembering that she had to go to the shop for some.

She made her way out of the kitchen and grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Maybe she'd visit Emeline and the shop on her way home from the store. She told Emeline she'd only be gone a day, but after being unable to set up a Portkey she had decided to fly, and while her entire time in Austraila wasn't a holiday, she enjoyed the warm weather and the slight tinge of pink on her nose and cheeks. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought before she decided she'd try the new café she'd heard so much about

 _.xx._

"Merci!" She smiled at the barista and turned away from the counter and right into something solid causing Hermione to gasp as the hot liquid splashed between her and the person she had run into. "I'm so so sorry!" She turned back around grabbing napkins off the counter, if she could use magic she'd avoid a hefty dry cleaning bill and the embarrassment of trying to clean tea off the bloke who had the misfortune of seeing her on a bad day.

"It's quite alright, Granger." His voice danced over her skin like velvet causing her to shudder "we have to stop meeting in crowded places."

Hermione looked up at him and was relieved that he was smiling. The front of his white shirt was stained brown and stuck to his stomach, in the same way her shirt stuck to her. She hoped it was just as uncomfortable.

"Draco..." she breathed looking up at his face "I truly am sorry about your shirt." She bit her lip and started to dab at it "if you leave me your number or address I'll get this dry cleaned-"

He let out a deep chuckle "for the brightest witch, you often forget you are one." He whispered in her ear, leaving chills down her spine "I think we should move away from the counter, we're causing a backup."

Hermione nodded and picked up the to-go cup that housed the remaining tea she had and moved away from the counter. Draco put his hand at the small of her back to guide her away from the crowd and Hermione found a table. She wasn't sure if she had asked Draco to join her, but here he was sitting down in front of her at the tiny table for two.

"Emeline said you were in London?"

Hermione took a sip of her tea and shook her head "No, Australia." Draco looked confused and Hermione shifted uncomfortably "it's just easier to tell Emeline some place close." She gave a half shoulder shrug "she hates flying and it's easier to convince her I took a train." She smiled into the cup before looking at him. He didn't know about her parents, the drastic measures she took to make sure they were safe and he certainly didn't know that she couldn't reverse what she had done. "What brings you into société de sorcière?"

"Well, I left the ministry not too long ago." He pinched the bridge of his nose "left with a bad headache when I remembered that I can't recall the last time I ate. This is on my way to the apparation point so I decided why not?" He held up his croissant before taking a bite "I heard this bakery has 'wicked good' treats." He wiggled his eyebrows causing Hermione to laugh.

"You spoke to Emeline?" She watched as he broke off a piece of his croissant. He nodded slightly as he plopped the piece into his mouth "you went back to the bookshop? Why?"

He stayed quiet for a moment "to ask you how you were. But you weren't there." He stared at her causing her to squirm under his gaze "I get them too. Whenever there's a loud noise or something that reminds me of that time."

Hermione shook her head "I don't know what you're talking about, Draco." She took a sip of her drink and glanced out the window. Her wand rested in the sheath on her arm, hidden by the sleeve of her jumper. After the panic attack with Draco she decided she wasn't going to be without it.

"You do but you're too stubborn." He took a drink of his beverage and casually leaned back in his chair.

Draco looked out of place. His navy blue suit was expertly tailored, his brown loafers shined until you could see yourself and his hair in place. The only thing that was 'off' about Draco Malfoy was the large brown stain on his dress shirt.

Hermione, however looked like she shouldn't have left home. Her hair was French braided off to one side, she wore a large oversized sweater from the time she visited New York City, a pair of black leggings and her favorite pair of white converse.

To an outsider it looked like they wouldn't have known each other at all. To Hermione she wished they had known each other better, ten years was a long time to change and to lose who a person was.

"...so I guess what I'm asking is" he paused and Hermione had realized she hadn't been listening. She was too busy taking in his facial features and imaging what the pair looked like from outside their table "if you'd want to go to dinner with me, tonight?

Hermione smiled and nodded slowly. If she was going to get to know him again, she had to start somewhere. "Yes."

 **AN:** I'm sorry that this took a long time to get up! Work has been crazy to where I can't really write or get to the library. Also, gas prices are stupid expensive and while the closest library to me is under construction I have to travel a bit to get to the other one, which is fine. Thanks to **Blondfirefly** and **Guest** who reviewed and to everyone who put this story in their alerts/favorites!


	8. Chapter Seven

Draco looked at Hermione, feeling stupified. She had said yes earlier at the cafe and now she was standing in front of Epicure in a low cut pink dress. Her hair was up in what seemed to be an intricate style and a small necklace was clasped around her neck. She tightened her coat around her body as she turned her neck looking down the street, looking for him. He glanced down at his burgundy suit, white shirt and skinny black tie under his trench coat and sighed slightly. She had said yes earlier that day and he felt like he was eleven years old on the train to school or in fourth year when he saw her in her periwinkle dress robes or in fifth when his stomach had done somersaults upon hearing she'd be paired with him. A small smile replaced the sigh and he made his way across the street, toward her. He could do this. He had done this before, he could do this again.

"Draco." She smiled slightly nodding her head to him "I was beginning to think you weren't coming." She side eyed him and he felt like he had missed something.

He gently put his hand on the small of her back and walked her inside "why were you waiting outside? It's cold out here." He finished lamely. He felt dumb and awkward and he knew he should have complemented her but he wasn't sure how he could put into words how beautiful she looked.

"Well, if I was stood up I wanted to make sure I could make a clean escape." she paused as he opened the door, ever the gentleman. His father would have rolled in his grave if Draco never opened the door for a lady. She walked into the building and gasped audibly "Draco, it's beautiful in here!" She turned toward him and put her hand on his arm and he swore he stopped breathing for a second.

"Nothing but the best." He helped Hermione out of her coat, noticing that her dress was sleeveless and he was positive she should have been waiting inside. Or that he should have been earlier than her and had waited for her instead of the other way around. Zero points to Draco Malfoy. He handed the coats to the coat check and walked toward the host at the front. He turned around and walked over to Hermione "they're preparing our table now. It'll be just a few minutes."

She nodded and glanced around the restaurant "I've never been in a place so elaborate." She glanced at him "there was this one time when I went to New York City about six years ago with my friend Phil and he took me to a lovely place in Manhattan, but it wasn't like this." She smiled and looked away from him back to the ornamental decor along the ceiling.

Draco frowned at the mention of another man but reminded himself that he had slept next to and with another woman that wasn't her for four years "do you still talk to him? Phil?"

Hermione shook her head and shrugged slightly "no, we haven't spoken in about five years." She glanced at him "he moved away and we just lost contact. I think he moved to Bulgaria."

Draco felt relieved that whoever Phil was, was far away from Paris.

"Monsieur your table is ready." Draco nodded and waited for Hermione to follow the host "we apologize that it took so long for your table, Monsieur. There's a bottle of champagne being brought over, on the house. Your waiter will be here any moment" The host nodded slightly to the pair of them and briskly walked away.

Hermione laughed slightly and sat down on the chair Draco had pulled out for her "it was barley a wait! Five minutes, tops!"

"They are well known for their prompt service. A wait in their lobby is less than ideal." He sat next to her at the table and fidgeted with his napkin and silverware.

Hermione looked to her right and gasped slightly "Draco, there's an entire garden." She looked over at him and smiled "I bet it's lovely in the summer when the fountain is running."

"Well, I'll just have to bring you back in the summer." She smiled and nodded slightly before reaching out for her water glass.

"You look really nice tonight, Draco. Burgundy is your color." She glanced over at him and he silently cursed himself.

"Not as beautiful as you look tonight, Hermione." Half a point to Draco Malfoy, for complimenting her only after she had complimented him. She blushed and turned away from him slightly to hide her even pinker cheeks.

She licked her bottom lip before looking at the menu "so... what were you thinking about ordering?" She glanced at him quickly as his stomach did somersaults again. Her brown eyes were magical.

"The uh..." he realized that he hadn't looked at the menu once and wasn't even aware it had been brought until she had hers "blue lobster sounds delicious"

Hermione raised her eyebrows in amusement "since when did you like lobster? I remember you writing to me after your parents had a dinner party about how dull it was and how you wish something other than lobster was served." She laughed slightly and turned her attention back to the menu "I think I might have it somewhere."

"Oh well um..." he cleared his throat. The fact that she kept his letters made his heart race slightly. "I eat it... recreationally."

Hermione raised her eyebrows up in amusement and looked back down at her menu "I didn't know one could eat lobster recreationally." She stifled a laugh and moved her eyes across the pages "I think the veal sounds delicious." She moved her eyes up to him and his breath caught in his throat once again. Her eyes fluttered back down to the menu and he followed suit.

 _.xx._

The waiter had brought their complimentary bottle of champagne and had taken their orders. For the first course they both had the black truffle stuffed macaroni and for dinner Draco choked down his blue lobster. Her veal looked delicious and he kicked himself for ordering the lobster. There was always cereal later on tonight.

The conversation ebbed and flowed in almost a natural rhythm. It was quiet in spots where their meals were eaten and when they weren't too busy chewing they talked about almost everything. Hermione had asked if he still flew and he responded that he played quidditch some days with some of the blokes around the office. He asked about her fuzzy orange cat and she had informed him crookshanks had died at the Weasley's burrow a few years ago but had a happy life chasing garden gnomes.

"I think we should leave." Hermione looked up and him and snapped her clutch shut "before they ask us for desert because I know the best place to go." She bit her bottom lip slightly causing his heart to speed up. She always bit her bottom lip when she was excited or when she was concentrating. He knew because he had watched her in classes and from across the great hall. He studied her like she was a class he didn't want to fail. But he had.

He signaled for the waiter, paid the bill and pulled out Hermione's chair. He had done this so often for her in the past that she had quit fighting him on it and the thought made him chuckle a bit. The pair made their way towards their coats, Draco's hand resting gently on the small of her back to guide her safely out of the maze of full winding tables.

He helped Hermione into her coat before slipping his on and followed her down the street, her heels making small clicks on the sidewalk, joining in on the chorus of sounds around them. He was silently thankful that the conversation hadn't turned in the direction it had at the cafe the other day and that she seemed to be enjoying herself even as they walked to wherever she was taking them to in silence.

They approached the shop a few minutes with its windows black and its doors shut.

"It must be closed" Hermione made her way to the door and frowned slightly before grabbing her phone out of her purse. Draco peeked at the screen, seeing a mess of blond curls right under the time "I'm sorry Draco, I didn't realize they closed early on Wednesday. It's a really unique shop. They'll stay open until 10pm and on Friday and Saturday they'll stay open until 2am. They have special events like live bands and the odd karaoke and air drumming competition. I found them a few months after I had-" she paused for a second "-I had moved here."

He shrugged "you'll just have to bring me back another time" she smiled slightly and nodded, the stray hair bouncing. "If you're still up for desert i know a delicious gelato shop"

 _.xx._

A cab ride, a cab engine failure and another cab ride later they made it to a gelato stand near the base of the Eiffel Tower.

"It's usually too cold for gelato but.." he watched as she looked over toward him and he managed a smirk. He remembered the days when he'd smile so much around her that his cheeks hurt when he'd get back to the Slytherin common room. She still made him want to smile like a bafoon but he didn't want to give her a reason to run off.

"It's never too cold for gelato, Hermione." He led her up to the stand and ordered a chocolate for himself and Hermione ordered pistachio for herself.

The pair joined the other couples milling about the base of the tower, silently licking at their gelato.

"Did you know," Hermione turned to look at him "that there was a man who hated the Eiffel Tower so much that he ate lunch under it ever day because it was the only place in Paris where he couldn't see it?"

Draco looked at her amused, she would know one of the most absurd facts about the Eiffel Tower. He was sure that she had bought a book about Paris before she had come. He pictured her hunched over a couple volumes of books about the city she seemed so in tune with.

"I did not." He chuckled slightly before paying attention to his gelato. "Why Paris?" He looked at her suddenly and she looked up at him pausing at a bench where she sat quickly.

"I could say the same for you." She side eyed him and sighed slightly when he didn't give her a reason. He was curious, was he the reason she was here? Was their son the reason she sought refuge in the city of lights? "It was the furthest away from... everything. I just wanted to start anew and this was the best place." She looked up at the tower and back to him. The lights sparkled in her eyes and he swore that he could swim in the depths of them.

He sighed. He was the reason. Their son and as the reason. Perhaps the weasel was the reason too but he knew better "same, I suppose. After Astoria died I just had to leave." Partial lies never hurt. After Astoria had died he didn't want to live in his house anymore. It held memories of his dear friend, the walls were dripping in their hushed conversations about Theodore and Hermione and bedrooms seemed like they missed her too, as they seemed to hold on to the scent of her perfume like a warm hug. When Astoria had gotten weaker and sicker, after Theodore had stopped visiting and her parents had left she had told Draco he needed to find Hermione that just because she couldn't have her happy ending didn't mean he didn't deserve his. So two months after she passed away and the house tormented him with memories and an un-kept promise of finding Hermione, he left.

"I'm still really sorry about Astoria." She whispered as if her voice was going to do more than break him out of his memories.

He nodded slightly "thank you." He leaned forward on his knees and licked at his ice cream again. Was he ever going to get an appropriate time to bring up their son? The photo in his wallet seemed to burn and he wanted to look at it. He knew it would look weird to stare at your wallet "so." He glanced at her "how do you get one of those fellyphones?"

Hermione cocked an eyebrow and laughed a little "a cell? You don't have one?" She took a lick of her gelato and looked at him "I could take you to get one sometime. Not next week though, I'm quite busy."

He smiled and nodded "great, you can owl me!"

 _.xx._

Draco walked Hermione back to the bookshop as their night slowed down. The silence between them stayed comfortable unlike last time.

"Well..." Hermione stopped walking and bit at her bottom lip "this is me" she gestured toward the shop and Draco shoved his hands in his pockets "thank you for tonight Draco, I had a wonderful time." She fiddled with her hands and played with a ring she had on her right middle finger "at least it wasn't awkward like last time"

He laughed slightly and nodded "I enjoyed our date as well."

"Is that what it was?"

"If that's what you want it to be."

Hermione smiled and kissed him on both cheeks "goodnight, Draco."

 **AN:** I hope that you enjoyed the all draco POV chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it and there will probably be a lot more like this in the future. Also I wanted to show that while draco was more "in tune" to the muggle world he wasn't 100% there, that's why he mentions fellyphones instead of telephones or cell phones or cellular devices. It's also hard to believe that I write SO MUCH on my phone (not apologizing for a long chapter) it just doesn't look like it's over 2k words! As usual thank you to **nanny922** , **blondfirefly** , **unknownsoul-x, booklover19a** & **AuntCori** for leaving reviews! Also thanks to everyone who added this story to their favorites/alerts! Hope you enjoy!


	9. Chapter Eight

"One peppermint mocha latte, please." Hermione smiled at the barista and quickly paid before stepping off to the side. After last night she had decided to treat herself to one of her favorite seasonal beverages.

She had kissed Draco Malfoy.

She bit at her bottom lip to prevent the corners of her mouth from turning into a smile. Of course the kiss had taken place on both sides of his face and his stubble had scratched at her lips and her cheeks as they touched, a small reminder of how much time had passed since they had last actually touched. She frowned a little, a sadness settled in her chest of a time almost never thought of.

"We have to stop running into each other like this, Granger"

Hermione looked to the man who just walked up next to her "I believe you're stalking me, Malfoy." She nudged him a bit with her elbow and smirked up at him.

He shrugged "whenever I'm in the city I like to stop by Two Tails." He glanced around the shop and shoved a hand in his pocket "and it just so happens you're here, which is great because since you're busy next week and I don't plan on being in town for the next three I figured you could help me get one of those felly-fones."

Hermione laughed slightly and looked up at him "are you serious? Right now?" The barista called her name and she stepped forward slightly and took a hold of her cup. The warmth of the cup encapsulated her and she clutched onto the warm paper cup a little bit tighter "I have the bookshop to run. Emeline is probably worried about me. I did have a date with a strange man she knows nothing of." She shrugged and glanced at him "I could be dead. Or worse" she brought the cup up to her lips and looked at him "locked in a room with no books."

Draco laughed slightly and when his name was called he reached for his cup as well. Hermione watched as his slender fingers wrapped tightly around the cup causing her to remember the times his fingers wrapped around other things that were better left unsaid "well, today, after the bookshop closes. I'm on my way to a briefing before I leave."

"When are you leaving?" She took a sip of her drink and relished how the warmth seemed to explode from her chest throughout her entire body.

"Oh, tomorrow." He shrugged and took a drink of his. Hermione watched as his tongue darted out to catch the foam on his lip.

"Oh." She squeaked "where to?"

He put his hand on her lower back and guided her out of two tails "London, I have to talk to the wizengamot"

"Oh well that's exciting." Hermione looked back at the coffee shop, the heart on the door that enveloped a black and white photograph of two cats walking with their tails together in a heart shape. "Well then," she stopped and turned to him "meet me at the shop at four thirty, A lot of places close around six and Emeline can close the shop." She smiled.

"It's a date" Draco smiled

"Great." Hermione looked down at her watch "see you at four thirty! I'm really late now!" She turned around and made it to the corner before she turned back around and walked right past Draco "wrong direction" she laughed slightly and hoped the blush on her neck stayed on her neck.

 **.xx.**

"Vell?"

Hermione looked at Emeline and shrugged slightly "I'm sure we can make room for these right here but we're going to have to put something on that table out there and I think it's best tha—-"

"I am not talking about deese." She motioned dramatically to the books "I am talking about vat happened last night." She twirled around the aisle "how did ze dress fit?"

Hermione made her way down the ladder and wiped her hands on her jeans "the dress fit wonderfully, thank you Eme. It's in my office, I dry cleaned it myself last night." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and swiped through a few photos "see, I had to take a picture in the mirror because I knew you'd want to see."

Emeline put her left hand to her chest and sighed "oh 'ermione" she cooed "eet fits like a dream on you. You must keep eet. Eef you looked like zat I can't imagine 'e would stay away for long."

Hermione looked down at the photo "I couldn't keep that dress Eme, it's way too expensive and—"

"I will not 'eer of 'eet. Zat dress was made for you and I will interrupt you all day eef I have too so I can eer of your date."

Hermione laughed slightly and made her way up the ladder. She told Eme of how she had waited outside because she wasn't sure he would show up and she didn't want to make a complete arse of herself by waiting in the lobby. She told her how the conversation had went and how he had promised to bring her back in the summer to see the garden that resides in the middle of the restaurant. She told her everything from the dessert mishap to dropping her off at the bookshop and Emeline ooh'ed and aww'ed in the appropriate spots. She had always been a sucker for love stories.

"Did you kiss?"

"I kissed him on the cheek" she stepped off the bottom rung and looked at Emeline's amused face "his face!"

"Although you 'ave seen those other cheeks." She snorted in laughter and Hermione had laughed with her. "Alzough I am an engaged woman eet does not mean I cannot look. I 'ave seen his butt in zoze pants 'e comes in wearing and oh mon Dieu" She fanned herself leaning on one of the bookcases.

Hermione laughed slightly. The fact Emeline was talking about Draco's butt had made her uncomfortable, because in her mind Draco was off limits "i forgot to tell you," Hermione said quickly grabbing some books off the floor where Emeline had placed them "I'm leaving early today. Thirty minutes, I trust you can close the shop?"

Emeline's face fell "oh 'ermione I can't. I left a message on your answering machine last night." Emeline twisted her hands together "tonight ees our engagement party. Eet had slipped my mind. I invited you on your machine. You should wear zat dress again!"

Hermione smiled slightly "it's fine you can go early if you want." She nodded slightly "I'll be there, with bells on!"

Emeline smiled and hugged her tightly "oh zank you! Eet es at seven! You can bring 'em wiz you eef you want!" Emeline pointed to the blond man standing outside the window.

Hermione smiled slightly and looked over at Emeline "I can't get drunk again you remember what happened with Philip the last time I was drinking."

Emeline laughed "oh yes, everyone remembers."

Hermione grosses slightly and looked at her friend "let us all forget" Hermione had thought about using a memory charm on everyone at the New Year's Eve party but she knew that bumping and grinding on your own date wasn't bad. What had made it bad was throwing up all over Philip almost immediately after. And while it was terrible, it wasn't memory charm terrible.

 **.xx.**

Hermione watched Draco make his way into the shop. The small door seemed to grow for him as he walked in and the small space didn't feel as cramped as it did cozy, like he was meant to thrive here.

"I saw Emeline leave in a hurry..." he swaggered toward Hermione causing her knees to almost give out. She was almost positive he was doing it on purpose.

"Um" she cleared her throat and rested her hand on a shelf "she had other matters to attend to tonight." She looked around the shop, to the floor and to the ceiling. Anywhere but him.

"And you just let her leave? That's not the Hermione i know"

"She became more passive over the years." She flicked her eyes to him "anyway, I figured we could close the shop a bit early tonight so we could go get your mobile..."

She watched as his long fingers slid into his pocket and she repressed a shudder, how her body had missed him. How her heart had missed him more. She wondered if it was good for her to see him this much, or at all. If he left again... she wasn't sure she could take the heartache.

"Hermione?"

She snapped back to her thoughts and looked at him holding a mobile in his right hand "you got one?"

He nodded, a goofy smile on his face "yeah! I decided to find a place on my break because" he scratched at the back of his neck "because I wanted to spend more time with you, before I left."

Hermione smiled a bit and staggered forwards "I can help you with that." She pointed toward his phone "and are you feeling up for a party tonight?"

"Always am, Granger."

"Excellent."

 **Authors Note:** I'm so sorry that it's been since MAY since I updated. Honestly it hasn't felt like that long and honestly I had such a huge case of writers block. Even though I was able to write this chapter it didn't feel like it was up to par to me. I think It's short and it's kind of splotchy. Either way I hope that you enjoy it. I already have the next chapter written, you'll be introduced to Philip


	10. Chapter Nine

**Authors Note:** this chapter is entirely a flashback over several years. I almost made it into three different chapters for three different years but I didn't want to take too much time into this, I just wanted flashbacks here and there and they're all too short to be put into chapters. enjoy (authors note to follow concluding chapter)

 **Hermione, La Petite Librarie, 11 March, 2001**

 _Hermione glanced up from the counter as the bell above the door dangled loudly. A laugh escaped her lips as she looked at the man in the doorway._

" _Fancy seeing you here" He closed his umbrella and placed it near the door "You've been here every single day I've been in this week."_

" _Well my American friend," Hermione stood up as the man got closer to the counter "you've been here five times this week already and as the owner you're going to see me a lot here." She shrugged and shut the book she had been reading. "The only time you haven't been here this month is over the weekends."_

" _Well, it's hard to stay away when the owner is so beautiful."_

 _Hermione blushed and turned around grabbing a book off the shelf behind her "I found the book you had been looking for two days ago." She turned around and held out the book "I have to admit, it was quite hard to find. And..." she let out a laugh "And it's not something I'd expect you to read." She watched as he curled his long fingers around the book and jumped slightly when his skin touched hers._

" _It's for my wife." He shrugged "She's out of town and I thought I'd mail it to her. She's going to be gone a while."_

" _Oh, you have a wife?" Hermione glanced down at the counter feeling disappointed. She had been trying to get out and date ever since Scorpius had been born two years ago but it was proving difficult and the one man she felt attracted to had a wife. He had been coming to her shop for a month and he had never told her. She felt betrayed for a few moments before she realized she didn't even know his name, he didn't know hers or that she had a son "Then she's going to love this!"_

" _I hope so. She's not much of a reader" he glanced at the back of the book and handed it back to Hermione._

 _Hermione gingerly grabbed the book from the man in front of her and rang out his purchase. She bagged it gently and reached out toward him, catching the time on her wristwatch._

" _Oh! Look at the time!" she gasped and rushed out from behind the counter "I really do appreciate your business Mr. -"_

" _Sanders, Philip Sanders."_

" _Mr. Sanders but I must ask you to leave, I lost track of the time. I have to go pick up my son." She ushered Philip out of the door grabbing his umbrella on the way "thank you for shopping at La Petite Librarie."_

" _Hold on, hold on." He laughed "I didn't just come here for the book, you know." He glanced at her "I came to ask you if you'd like to join me for coffee but seeing as you have a son-"_

" _And you have a wife"_

" _-To tend to tonight-"_

" _Maybe come around tomorrow and ask again?" she questioned "Just because my answer is no right now, doesn't mean it won't be yes tomorrow." She smiled and opened the umbrella she grabbed from her bag "Have a good night, Mr. Sanders."_

" _Call me Philip!" he called after her, a small smile etched on his lips._

 _.xx._

 _Hermione locked the door to La Petite Librarie and slid the key into her pocket before walking down the sidewalk a bit disappointed. Philip had been absent from her store for more than two weeks, she had really been looking forward to coffee the next night and had set up a babysitter for Scorpius. She rounded the corner when she spotted him. She frowned slightly and turned to head back toward the bookshop._

" _Hey! Hey wait up!"_

 _Hermione walked faster, she wasn't sure where she was going but if Philip was okay to disappear for two weeks then he could wait just a little bit longer to see her._

" _Hey!" he ran up next to her and matched her pace, the fact that he wasn't a little bit out of breath surprised Hermione, as she had been struggling to keep the fast pace without exploding her lungs "Am I too late for the bookshop to be open?"_

 _Hermione stopped and looked at him "You had two weeks for it to be open. It's closed."_

 _He sighed and looked at her pinching the bridge of his nose "I'm sorry. I had to leave unexpectedly for business. I know, I should have called the store and told you but" he shrugged._

 _Hermione looked up at his dark brown eyes and chewed on her bottom lip. He was handsome, stood tall at about 188cm and his eyes were dark but warm, his jaw was strong and his hair was the color of caramel, it was thick and cascaded down a little past shoulders. He had stubble on his cheeks and chin that was darker than the hair on his head and broad shoulders that looked like they could protect her from the world. He was currently dressed in a navy blue button up with a pair of khaki pants and brown shoes. His wedding ring glittering in the March sun. She glanced down at his ring and chewed on her lip a bit more. Coffee with a married man was not something she did, it went beyond everything she believed in, but also so did dating Draco Malfoy and falling madly and deeply in love with the ferret._

 _She glanced up at Philip and smiled slightly "its fine. The time difference, I get it."_

 _He seemed to visibly relax and he smiled "So, do you have time for coffee?"_

 _Hermione nodded and started walking "Josie, my babysitter, is taking my son and her son to a children's play today. They won't be back until eight." She looked up at him and smiled slightly, coffee was going to be interesting._

 **Hermione, La Petite Librarie, 20 May 2002**

 _Philip sat on the counter of La Petite Librarie and looked down at Hermione. His sudden movement caused her to look up from the paper she had been reading, secretly scanning the paper for any mention of Draco._

" _I didn't hear you come in." She smiled and stood up leaning toward Philip. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips "I missed you."_

 _He ran his hands through her hair before kissing her again "I have dinner reservations for us tonight at La Petite Chef, if you could find a babysitter for Scorpius."_

 _Hermione bit her lip and glanced up at him "I had imagined that when you got back from New York you'd see me first instead of your wife and I already arranged for a babysitter."_

 _Philip grinned and kissed her again "you're the smartest woman I know."_

 _Hermione smiled slightly and nodded "So I've been told." She moved around the counter toward the door changing the sign from open to close "Scorpius would love to see you too, he hasn't seen you in a couple of weeks and keeps asking." She glanced back at Philip before walking toward him at the counter._

" _I could stay with you this week. Anita will be in Bulgaria until next Thursday. I'm all yours."_

 _Hermione inhaled sharply at the mention of his wife. She had always felt guilty when she and Philip's relationship had moved from platonic to more like friends with benefits. He often told her that he and his wife had an open relationship and that he knew her week long business trips to Bulgaria were not always fashion related._

 _Harry and Ginny had disapproved of her rich muggle businessman in the beginning. Ron, however, had thought it was time for her to loosen up and have some fun. He told her repeatedly that she deserved to have fun and not to wait for a git like Malfoy to come around. It took some convincing for Harry and Ginny to come around to the idea of Philip, but ultimately agreed with Ron. That Malfoy was a git and that at least Philip made her happy._

 _Hermione smiled and sauntered over to Philip "That sounds lovely, Scorpius would be so happy." She stood up on her tip toes and whispered in his ear "And I have a lovely lace covered surprise for you tonight." She nipped at his ear before she walked toward the back of the shop._

" _You can't just say things like that and walk away, 'Mione!" He jumped down off the counter and chased after her, loosening his belt along the way._

 _.xx._

 _Hermione sat in her chair at La Petite Chef and Philip pushed her chair in._

" _You look beautiful tonight, 'mione."_

 _Hermione looked down at the table and blushed. After all they had did earlier in her office she still managed to blush under a compliment "In part to you. This is a beautiful dress."_

 _After their tryst in her office they made their way back to her flat where he presented her with a stunning red off the shoulder dress. It hit her mid-calf and was paired with the pair of Christian Louboutin's he had bought her on the first trip he took. He was dressed smartly in a white button up, a blue blazer and his Khaki pants._

" _I was thinking that maybe you and Scorpius could go to New York with me. I have to go back next month, and it'll be a while that I'll be gone."_

" _How long are we talking about?" Hermione looked up at him from her menu_

" _A month."_

" _A month? I can't leave the bookshop closed that long, I can't be in New York a month." She reached out to him and grabbed his hand, running her thumb across the top gently. "I'd love to go but I can't afford a month."_

 _Philip sighed and nodded "A week then? Two?"_

 _Hermione leaned over the table a bit and kissed him gently "I can do that."_

 _Philip smiled slightly and kissed her again "I can't wait until desert."_

 _.xx._

" _Uncle pwillip!" Scorpius jumped into his arms and wrapped his tiny arms around his neck "how long are you staying this time?"_

 _Philip glanced at Hermione who stood in the kitchen dressed in one of Philip's tee-shirts and a pair of shorts "A week!"_

" _Oh wow!" Scorpius grinned "presents?"_

 _Philip put Scorpius down and dug in his bag "How about these NINJA TURTLES!?"_

 _Scorpius looked at him confused "what are ninja turtles?"_

 _Philip gasped dramatically causing Hermione to laugh from the kitchen "What are Ninja turtles? Why they're the best crime fighters New York City ever had!"_

 _The next thirty minutes while Hermione cooked breakfast for the two boys in her living room, they played with the ninja turtles. Philip explained to a three year old Scorpius which turtle was which and told elaborate stories of the shelled crusaders. By the end of breakfast Scorpius was obsessed with the turtles and his new toys._

 **Hermione, Philips apartment, Manhattan, 3 January, 2004**

 _Hermione sat across the table from Philip, her hands wrapped around a steaming to go cup of coffee and she decided that coffee wasn't her thing, tea was much better and much better prepared by her and her favorite shop than a barista who hated her busy job in the middle of Times Square. Hermione had left Scorpius with Emeline, who happily took him so that the two love birds could have time to themselves and Hermione had missed him terribly._

" _Philip" Hermione looked at the man at the stove, he stood shirtless making pancakes. She smiled sadly and looked into her cup. They had a wonderful New Year's Eve, they had spent it in Times Square ringing in the New Year with their lips locked. Later that night, they had what Philip had called, the best way to ring in the new year in between the sheets and more than once. They didn't leave the bed for almost two days when Philip's wife had come to the apartment finding Philip and Hermione in a compromising position. "Philip" She tried again looking at the muscles in his back tense as she said his name "We have to talk about what happened last night."_

" _There's nothing to talk about, Hermione." He turned his neck and looked at her before going back to his pancakes._

" _Yes there is" She stood up from the table, Philip's rolling stones tee-shirt hit her right above the knee. She walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her head resting on his back and his hair tickled her forehead a bit._

 _He sighed and turned around looking at her "what do you want me to say? That I regret what happened last night? Because I don't. She knew we were going to be here, I had told her I was using the apartment. It was her choice to come in on us and to bring her nightly boy toy."_

 _Hermione looked up at him and played with some of his hair between her fingers "You're bothered by this and she was bothered by me." She looked at him and bit her lip "I think that after we get back to Paris, we should end things. For good this time."_

 _He looked at her baffled and Hermione glanced at his chest "what are you saying?"_

" _I'm saying that I think it would be best for us to—"_

" _You don't mean that"_

 _She stared at his chest at the scars that had adorned it. Hermione learned that he had done a tour in Afghanistan after 9/11 and had some pretty terrifying stories to go with his scars "I do." She looked up at him "I can't be the other woman anymore, Philip. You don't love me, you love her and that's okay" she cupped his cheek and he leaned into it._

" _How long have you thought about this?"_

" _A while." She smiled at him sadly._

 _Philip sighed and leaned down and kissed her "so if we never leave New York?"_

 _Hermione laughed slightly and pressed her lips into his, and her hips onto his "We have to leave New York. Emeline emailed me this morning about Scorpius missing me, and I miss him." She looked up at Philip "you were really good with him, you know and you're going to make a great father."_

" _You know?"_

 _Hermione threw her head back and laughed "Oh honey, it's not that hard to see her tummy." She pulled him away from the stove, but Philip ever safe paused and turned off the stove "let's make this the best two days we have left, shall we?"_

 _Philip grinned "maybe we can join the mile high club on the way back." He stated as Hermione drug him back into the bedroom._

 _Hermione laughed and shook her head "As soon as we're in the air Philip, we're out of new York."_

 _.xx._

 _Hermione made her way back to her apartment with Scorpius on her hip and tears in her eyes. She didn't realize how much she would miss Philip, but it was for the best. She wasn't going to be the other woman and she wanted the child he was about to have with his wife to have a father who was attentive to their mother, not his mistress. She kissed Scorpius on the head and placed him down on the couch where he continued to play with his ninja turtles._

 _It was a pretty great three years._

 **AN:** Hi. Hello. Welcome to the only chapter that mentions Philip in a whole. He's going to show up in a later chapter so I needed him to be introduced and given some back story. Yes, he's a married man, yes it's OOC for Hermione but also so is Hermione dating Draco so let's not read too much into this yes? It's fanfiction so liberties are taken! I didn't want it to be too long, you can fill in whatever details you want about his relationship with her, what they did, where they went, etc. Hope you enjoyed!


	11. Chapter Ten

Draco ran his hands through his hair and looked down at the parchment in front of him. He had only been in wizarding London for an hour and he already regretted taking on the case. Regret wasn't the only thing bothering him, the lack of sleep and the fact Hermione had taken him to Emeline's engagement party where muggle booze seemed to flow freely and he was now convinced from his pounding headache that he was made up entirely of what Emeline's brother was so fond of. Apparently Alexandre had studied abroad in America and had become accustomed to their cinnamon flavoured 'fireball'. At first it had reminded Draco a bit of firewhisky, then it had stopped tasting of anything.

He had been surprised when Hermione had mentioned a party and when he met her back at the bookshop in that pink dress she had worn for their date. She had looked just as stunning and he had found himself thinking that it would look even better in a heap on the bookshop floor. He had been surprised when the party she had mentioned was a tame dinner on a rooftop overlooking the Eiffel Tower; the tower Guy de Maupassant had hated so much. He had been amazed at how the heat lamps worked and how cozy it had felt. He was even more surprised when they had went downstairs and had partied through the wee hours of the morning. He vaguely recalled Hermione dancing her rendition of an Irish jig, something she swears Seamus had taught her before the Yule ball.

"Malfoy?"

The voice jolted Draco back to the present, to the pieces of parchment on his desk, to his headache.

"Hm?" He looked over at Ritchie? Rawlings? He couldn't remember. The guy looked like he could fight and had a thick mustache that looked like it could back him up. Draco swore his arms were the size of two Sunday roasts.

"Have you found anything? On Richards and Marins-Cannes?"

Draco shook his head to clear the cannonball fog that it was currently enveloped in "I'm here on this case for three weeks, you can't expect me to find something out in an hour, Richard."

The man gave him a look and shook his head before pointing at himself "Mark. I was a year above you at Hogwarts."

Draco looked at him, it definitely wasn't Marcus, the teeth would have given him away and his were as white as crisp linen. "I apologize." Draco closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair again. It felt good on his scalp and soothed the headache a bit "bit of a floo headache. It's a bitch flooing from one country to the next. Would have been easier to take the tube."

Mark laughed and patted Draco hard on the shoulder "here, here." He took a seat across the desk Draco had been given "it's a pretty high profile case that the wizgeamont wants closed in the three weeks that you're here. You're the best in Dark artifacts. You're going to testify against them, you understand?"

Draco nodded "Smuggling Dark artifacts is a crime, my family should know." He muttered gingerly.

"Great!" He grinned and stood up "Harry Potter will be in touch with you for the next couple of weeks seeing as he's the guy who caught them." He nodded at Draco and walked out quickly

Draco nodded to nothing. Saint Potter strikes again. Draco rolled his eyes as he could see the headlines now: "Wizarding world saved from boy wonder for a third time. Dark artifacts seized at border" he chuckled to himself before he started to pour over the parchments in front of him, his headache still banging on his skull.

 _.xx._

The sound of his dragon leather shoes made the only sound as he walked through the atrium. The mobile he bought felt heavy in his pocket. It was useless to bring here, it didn't work in this world, like most muggle contraptions. It had almost felt useless to buy, in hindsight. He wanted it to talk to Hermione while he was gone but this case seemed like it was going to take up most of his time and the manor was still in the wizarding world. Hermione had showed him how to work his phone and even took a photo of the two of them together to use as 'wallpaper' to the screen that showed his time. It was a good photo of them but it wasn't wallpaper, as it was neither on a wall or paper.

The sound of laughter drew Draco's eyes from the floor to the other end of the hall. Three boys chased each other in a circle, two of them with shaggy brown hair and the other with platinum locks like his own.

Draco's breath caught in his throat. Scorpius had grown significantly since his stolen photo and he even believed he grew more since the time he had run into him at the louvre.

"Come on James!" Scorpius called out in mock frustration at the first shaggy haired boy "Albus and I have both been it, it's your turn" he reached out and almost caught James on the shoulder, who jumped quickly out of the way and right into a door, causing Scorpius to howl with laughter.

Draco stopped walking and leaned on the wall quickly. The sound of his son's laughter ran throughout the hall and it had been music to Draco's ears. The sound had almost knocked him to his feet. The sound he had been dying to hear since he knew of Scorpius. His chest heaved and he had a strong urge to storm over to the boy, take him by the hand and Disapparate to Paris for Hermione to explain herself to both Scorpius and him.

But he didn't.

Instead he reached in his pocket and held onto his new mobile, the picture of Scorpius on what Hermione had called the "home" screen. It had been a very lovely purple flower until Draco figured out how to change it after he left the party.

"Malfoy?"

Draco looked up to the man who appeared on his left and then back at where the children had been playing. He was now looking at the back of what he assumed to be Ginny, quickly ushering the children away. His son away from him, like he was a dirty spot on his mother's otherwise spotless life.

"I figured you'd still be here. Saint Potter saving the wizarding world one raid at a time." Draco drawled looking down at his nails "I thought you and Weasle-ette had the twins and your daughter—-"

"That's... Teddy Lupin." Harry cut him off with one of the worst lies Draco had heard this side of the river. "Staying with us over his fall break. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

Potter had looked uncomfortable, good.

"Well," Draco looked at him "I suppose I came here to thank you for those raids and seizures. I was summoned specially. Something about my family's ties with dark objects apparently makes me an expert." He flicked his eyes up to watch Harry "I'm also a damn good lawyer, hopefully here for three weeks but hoping for shorter."

"Well if you're of a lawyer as you say you are I figure you'll be out in no time." Harry's eyes flicked over to the corner the boys disappeared around and back to Draco. Draco watched him intently "well, if you ever feel up to lunch, my office is on the third floor. I assume your temporary office is close by?"

It was Draco's turn to look confused. Was Potter really inviting him to lunch of all things? Harry Potter, his school nemesis extending the proverbial olive branch. He inhaled and shoved his hands in his pockets again, a tick if he ever saw one. If he was going to have lunch with Saint Potter he'd at least try to get information about his son out of him. "Sure, Potter." He pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked at his watch "Ah, would you look at the time. Dear old mummy is expecting me for dinner and I can't be late." He feigned an eye roll and turned on his heel "Later, Potter."

 _.xx._

The fireplace hadn't had a fire in it in quiet some time and Draco realized, as he had dusted the ashes off his black suit that it hadn't been cleaned properly in quite some time either.

The manor was silent and Draco didn't expect anything more. His mother had taken off to Italy a few weeks after the war stating that the halls held to many haunted memories for her. It did for him too. They practically vibrated with Hermione's screams. The memory of her lying helpless on the floor made him shiver. He should have done something, he should have helped her, and he shouldn't have been so damn scared. Scared for his mother, scared for Hermione and scared for a man who didn't give two shits about him.

He wondered how his father would have reacted to the news of having a grandson, a half blood in the family after a long, long line of pureblood relations. He chuckled to himself as he slithered down the hall toward his old room.

The door creaked as Draco opened it. It made the sound ever since Hermione got branded and in his anger he blew his door off its hinges and couldn't repair it properly. He ran his fingers down the misshapen hinges and pressed his forehead on the door. So many memories of her lingered in the manor, and none of them good. None of them of them snogging on his bed during summer break or her moaning his name while under him. All of those happy memories happened at her house over various summers, over various trips while her parents camped out at the Forest of Dean. No happy memories lurked here and he was positive none ever would.

He slipped off his clothes and took a quick shower. He slipped into his pajamas and into his ultra-plush bed and closed his eyes tightly, wishing for sleep to come.

At three am he woke up in a sweat, out of breath and tears pooling in his eyes. He'd get a hotel tomorrow, far away from here.

When he woke up again three hours later he left. As he left he supposed the manor could have happy memories, if he demolished the house first.

 **Authors note:** I have no idea if there is fireball whisky in England. I wouldn't know because I don't drink it. Whisky is interesting and it's not in my best interest lol. If it is just please chalk it up to Draco not knowing anything of being muggle and just assumed it came directly from America. I always enjoy writing for Draco even if he might be a bit ooc! anyway, thank you for reading!


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**April, 1997**_

" _Draco?" Hermione looked up from her book and across the table to the gaunt boy in front of her, his blond hair seemed to glow in the moonlight "I-I'm leaving. Hogwarts, that is." Her eyes searched his face. It had become gaunt, haunted and she wished he'd tell her why "it's just something I have to do." She played with the piece of parchment she had laid out in front of her. His quill had stopped moving but his eyes remained looking down at what he had written._

" _Why?" He whispered after what Hermione felt like ages._

 _She knitted her eyebrows together "there's something Harry has to take care of and—"_

 _Draco dropped his quill and slapped at the table "it's always Potter. It's always you and potter running off doing this and doing that. Getting into trouble into danger."_

 _Hermione jumped at the sound of his hand hitting the otherwise silent library. They were there after hours, breaking school rules like she was apparently so fond of "harry needs me."_

 _Draco ran his hands down his face and looked at her, his grey eyes burning holes into her own "I need you too, you know."_

 _Hermione chewed on her bottom lip and stood up walking over to his side of the table and sat on his lap. "I-I know." She pressed her forehead against his and closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist "but I have to do this."_

 _Draco wound his arms tighter around her waist "you don't have to, Hermione. Harry can take care of himself."_

 _Hermione snorted and pulled her head back and looked at him "you're mental. Harry is smart but he doesn't think before he acts." She pursed her lips together gently "just remember, you were in the hospital wing not too long ago because of his inability to just think." She gently touched his chest gently feeling rigid bumps under the thin fabric._

 _Draco took her hands from his chest and kissed her fingertips gently "what are you doing?"_

 _Hermione removed her hands from his and gently moved a piece of hair away from his eyes. It was soft, it was always soft. It was one of her favorite things about him "i don't think I can tell you."_

 _She watched his face crumple and turn from hurt to frustration "not because I don't trust you, Draco. I don't trust him." She sighed and rested her forehead onto his again "he's very skilled in occulmency. Us being here right now is very dangerous. He could see it if he wanted and he could harm you and" Hermione let out a sob "I couldn't lose you Draco." She moved her head back and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just so scared" she whispered and sniffed while staring up at the ceiling willing her tears not to fall._

" _Hey." Draco whispered "hey look at me" Hermione's eyes closed tightly before she lifted her head and then opened her eyes to look at him "no matter what happens, you're not going to lose me." He rested his hand at the nape of her neck while one hand played with her curls. "I worked too hard to get you."_

 _Hermione laughed and wiped at her eyes "you were paired with me for a project, I hardly call that working hard to get me."_

 _He smirked slightly "oh I don't know about that. I fancied you for a long time Hermione Granger."_

" _Is that why you were so mean to me?" She rolled her eyes "because I don't know if someone has told you but that doesn't mean someone likes you if they're mean to you."_

 _He groaned "how many times am I going to apologize for words that were said blindly? I was following what I was raised to believe then I met you, truly met you" he touched her nose and laughed when she pulled a face._

 _Hermione smiled at the sound of his laugh, she so rarely heard it anymore. She barley saw him anymore due to the dark lord and when she did he was always tense and on edge. So his laugh was like a melody that she would play in her mind when the days became long and the nights too short. A melody she knew she'd never forget, no matter the outcome._

" _I'm a delight" she laughed wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a gentle kiss._

" _More like an insufferable know it all." He smiled and kissed her again._

 _She moaned softly into his mouth and pulled away "better than being a foul loathsome evil little cockroach." She licked her top lip and grinned down at him._

" _Oh you brazen witch." He growled and kissed her again, this time with more fervor._

" _I do have to say you make a great ferret." She muttered between kisses._

" _Oh you're lucky I love you." He whispered between the kisses she planted on him, and the gentle lip tug that drove him wild._

 _Hermione paused and looked at him, her stomach filled with sudden butterflies. Draco seemed to realize the weight of his words and let his eyes grow wide. The words lingered heavily in the air between them, both of them afraid to speak first._

" _D-did you just..."_

" _Yeah, I think I did"_

" _I'm not going to cry" she choked out "because..." she flicked her eyes to the ceiling and back down at him "because we still have a lot of work to do and if i start crying it will never get finished." She blinked furiously "just look at us now." She choked out a laugh and cupped his face in between her hands "but I love you too, Draco."_

 _Draco's bright smile seemed to illuminate the stacks of books and Hermione looked at him and smiled back, it really was a treasure to see him smile._

" _Draco, you remember what we had talked about the other day?" She licked her lips nervously and rested her hands on his shoulders, picking at lint that wasn't there "about the rumors of me and Viktor?" She rolled her eyes in frustration "they were wrong. They were all wrong and bedraggled and" she let out a laugh "and I wanted my first time to be special, with someone who loved me and I loved in return and I've been thinking about it and—-"_

 _Draco put a finger to her lips "if you're not ready then—-"_

 _Hermione exhaled "I don't think anyone is ready for anything. We just have to get over our fears and the only way to do that is to do what scares us the most." She blinked back tears "there's going to be a war, Draco and I don't know if either of us will make it out alive. You have a higher chance, I'm muggle born and the best friend of Harry Potter I'm a walking target. I want to do this, for us." She pressed her forehead against his and inhaled his scent "a memento of our love." She looked at him in the eye "and you have to promise me something."_

 _Draco looked at her and ran his hands up her back and let them play with her curls "anything."_

" _That whenever it's over, we meet again. The room of requirement, just us."_

 _Draco nodded and kissed her gently "I promise."_

 _Later that night Hermione and Draco made their way to the room of requirement, where sweet nothings were whispered among the sounds of moans that bounced off the walls until early morning._

 _.xx._

 _ **December 1997**_

 _Hermione sat with her back against the tree, her wand tucker tightly under her leg. Ron had been gone for a while and Hermione had been worried sick. Ron had been insanely jealous of Harry and Hermione and before he stormed off he had mentioned something about a relationship. Hermione and Harry had both been flabbergasted both at the accusation and when Ron had thrown the Horcrux into the snow before storming off._

 _Hermione sighed and looked down at her book, a piece of parchment stuck between the pages, a reminder of what she had left behind. He insisted on writing her letters, and she said only one would be enough. She thought it would have been enough, but he could have written her thousands of letters and they never would have been enough. Her fingertips lightly played with the edge of the crinkled parchment._

 _She missed him._

 _It had been eight months since she had seen him last but it had felt like eight long years. She stopped getting the daily prophet when they had left but with Potter watch they knew all their classmates were alive, which meant Draco was too._

 _Hermione looked up at Harry as he exited the tent and she stood up promptly dusting the snow off her behind "we should start packing up. We want to be in Godric's hollow before sundown."_

" _There might not be anything there 'mione."_

" _But there might be. It doesn't hurt to look. Besides he could have left something at your house, it's not much, but it's a start."_

 _Harry quickly dismantled the tent and shoved it down Hermione's purse. Hermione took the defensive charms away from their campsite and once they were both ready, sun had fallen and they apprated just outside of Godrics hollow._

" _It's quite charming isn't it?" Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and walked closer to him, the cold chilling her down to her bone. "Oh!" She stopped for a second as the passed a church and looked over at harry "it must be Christmas Eve, happy Christmas Harry."_

" _Happy Christmas Hermione." He gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand before they both made their way down the path to the looming infrastructure ahead of them._

" _Look, we don't have to do this Harry." Hermione looked over at him, at his set jaw and focused eyes. "If it's too painful we can just go... we can visit their graves."_

 _Harry kicked at the snow and pulled Hermione with him toward the house stopping at the fence. "This is where they died" he whispered. Hermione averted her eyes, the longer she looked at the destroyer building the more she wanted to cry._

" _They'd be very proud of you." She cleared her throat and looked up at him "doing what you're doing. Surviving and fighting, just like they were doing." She squeezed Harry's hand in the way he did hers and laid her head on his shoulder. The pair stayed like that for a while before they made their way down to the cemetery. Once there Hermione laid a wreath at the grave of Lily and James Potter and said a silent prayer with a promise to look after Harry._

" _Harry someone is watching us." She whispered._

 _Harry turned around and looked at her. After she summoned them with her crooked finger she started to walk away and Harry followed._

 _Hermione frowned "harry, I have a bad feeling about this."_

 _.xx._

 _ **April 1998**_

 _Hermione didn't remember much of being captured after she had cast the stinging jinx on Harry. She regretted that she didn't have time to do the same for Ron or herself. She remembered something about the snatchers talking about taking them to Malfoy Manor before they summoned the dark lord._

 _And now she was kneeing on the floor of the manor, what looked to be their drawing room. She could see the shoes of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. If she looked hard enough she could see her face in Lucius Malfoy's loafers. The other shoes were dirty, some missing soles and some had holes._

 _Approaching footsteps alerted her and she raised her eyes from the shoes to the faces. Bellatrix looked almost giddy, Narcissa looked like she was going to be sick, Lucius looked like he already had been and Draco looked surprised._

 _She had almost smiled when Bellatrix sent someone off to fetch Draco but now she felt like crying. He was alive, although he looked a little bit worse for wear, but who didn't in this room? She realized that she was being forced to her feet and harry was being ripped away from her side and across the room closer to Draco._

" _Tell us who it is, Draco" Bellatrix looked at him as she stood behind Harry._

" _What happened to his face?" Hermione stared at the back of his head, hoping he'd do the right thing. He had to have done the right thing, he loved her and her best friend was standing in front of him. He couldn't do this. Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes._

" _Yes... what happened to his face indeed!" Bellatrix looked over and her eyes caught the sight of a sword on the hip of a snatcher "where did... did you get that sword?"_

" _It was in her belongings when we searched her."_

 _Hermione's breath picked up and she searched around the room. Her eyes caught Draco's and they looked scared. Scared for him, scared for his family and scared for her and what horror laid on the end of Bellatrix._

 _Despite telling her that she didn't steal it, that she had found it Bellatrix didn't believe her and wound up carving a word into her skin. Hermione's skin seared and her screams grew louder. She had screamed so loud she was almost positive the walls would reverberate with the sound forever. After Bellatrix finished her assault Hermione let her head lull off to the side to look at the branding she had recieved._

 _Mudblood._

 _For the longest time she stared at her arm and when her skin burned and ached she stared off into the distance, at the heels of Draco's shoes._

 _.xx._

 _ **May 1998**_

 _Whatever she had ran into was not a wall and it was most definitely a person, she had bounced back and almost tripped on the steps behind her._

" _Merlin, Hermione."_

 _Large hands gripped at her arms and she looked up at the face who held her almost captive "Draco?" She whispered in astonishment._

" _You're here? How are you here?!" He pulled her into a tight hug and Hermione buried her face in between the crook of his arm and his chest. "Merlin..." he whispered._

" _You're alive." Hermione breathed and looked up at him. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, her eyes searching his face "you're okay. You're alive and you're okay!"_

 _Draco leaned down and kissed Hermione quickly "come on, we should get to the room of requirement so we can talk. There's death eaters crawling all over this place." He looked around and took Hermione's hand and gripped it tightly "I've missed you, Hermione."_

 _He started to walk, dragging her behind him as he searched long corridors for any signs of life. Hermione practically jogged to keep up with him and almost collided with him as he stopped abruptly before pulling her through a door. The lavender and sandalwood scent was familiar, the scene too odd and it seemed out of place. In the middle of the room the over-stuffed couch sat unused for months. Hermione glanced at it and pictured how she and Draco would sit close together working on homework or snogging. In front of the couch sat a fireplace that roared to life as soon as the pair entered and in the very back right hand corner sat the bed, still made the same way she had from sixth year, when she and Draco had spent their last night of prewar innocence together although what they had done was far from innocent. It was odd to see how normal everything looked and out of place for a building experiencing war._

 _Draco dropped her hand and turned on her pushing her up against the entrance "you stupid, stupid girl" she searched his wild eyes before he smashed his lips onto hers in quick hurried kisses "you weren't supposed to get caught!" His eyes searched her face and his fingers traced over the cuts and bruises gingerly._

" _Oh yes Draco because we all thought collectively as a group that we were going to get caught!" She pushed him away from her and put her head in her hands before turning on him "why didn't you give us up?"_

" _What are you talking about?" Draco looked at her in bewilderment._

" _At the manor, in your drawing room your aunt asked you to identify us. Why didn't you?"_

 _Draco stared at her and then looked away "because while Potter is the bane of my existence I know he's going to be the one to put an end to all of this, and I want it to end. I need it to end." He looked up at her, fear flashing in his eyes "and you were there, I couldn't give you up. Not to him." He shuddered and Hermione walked back up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist "and when she attacked you, I thought I was going to be sick. I wanted to stop her but my mother held me back." He ran a hand through his hair and pressed a kiss on the top of her head._

" _I thought I had lost you" she whispered after a long bought of silence as she continued to stare at the thick green velvet curtains tied back by silver rope "in the manor you looked different, I thought he had finally broke you." She swallowed hard "I know you couldn't have saved me from her and I know you beat yourself up over it and—"_

" _I'll always beat myself up over not being able to save you" he whispered. Hermione looked up at him and Draco's lips touched hers gently and she sighed and leaned into his touch deepening the kiss. If she could stay this way forever, she would. Just the two of them in this room, forever._

 _.xx._

 _She pulled her jean jacket over her pink jumper, grabbed her wand off the table and quickly walked out the door- and into battle. This time she left the bed unmade a solemn reminder of what had been and what might never be._

 _Jogging down the stairs she met with Ron in the courtyard, both of them sitting at the foot of the rubble. The fighting had died down and Ron said he hadn't seen Harry since they all separated at the great hall._

" _Ron, look!" Hermione pointed toward the group heading toward them "it's Hagrid! He's alive!"_

" _Blimey..." Ron muttered. People trickled out of the castle to get a better look at the large group led by Voldemort himself._

" _Who is he—-?"_

" _Harry Potter is dead!"_

 _Hermione gasped and grabbed onto Ron burying her face into his shoulder. It couldn't have been. Not her best friend. Hermione's ears were suddenly filled with the sound of screams and her eyes snapped over to Ginny, where Neville held her back._

 _Voldemort laughed._

 _The crowd laughed._

" _Draco" Lucius Malfoy hissed urgently holding his hand out to his only son. Hermione looked around and found him a couple people behind her, his chin quivering but his feet staying put. "Draco" Lucius tried again._

" _Draco darling..." his mother looked at him and Hermione glanced back at him. His feet had started to move, she recalled how he told her his mother was the only positive light in his life growing up, and he'd do anything for her. And he was doing it now. His feet moved him toward Voldemort and Hermione's chin quivered and she shook her head slightly._

 _The hug was awkward and Hermione watched Draco walk toward his parents, not knowing that she was indeed losing him._

 **Authors note:** I'm finally ahead of the game! I've written half the story now the fun part is getting to write all of the flashback scenes! I think I said earlier that they weren't going to really contribute to the story at all, just little flashbacks but as I wrote this one I realized how it did connect with the story at present and realized that the other ones did too. If you didn't realize the May part takes place right before the prologue, and after the jump takes place after the prologue, the last paragraph from it makes an appearance. Also, it's amazing how much one can write on their phone! I wrote a lot of this when I was flying to and from Walt Disney world. I went through it with a fine tooth comb when I got home so apologies for any grammatical errors or if things don't flow well. Anyway, Hope you enjoyed! Please read and review


	13. Chapter Twelve

Scorpius ran circles around James and Albus until he couldn't anymore. His laughter paired with his running had left him breathless and left open to be 'it' from Albus when he paused with his hands on his knees.

"Don't rag me I can't breathe!" He laughed lifting his head to look at Albus "tag James! He hasn't been it yet!"

Albus turned his attention to his brother and grinned devilishly "you're right Scorp! Maybe we should gang up on him and make him it!"

James backed away from the two boys with his hands held up in defeat "fellas..." he looked between the two and bolted out of the door and into the atrium.

Scorpius looked at Albus as soon as Albus looked at him and they both bolted after the slightly taller boy.

Come on James!" Scorpius called out in mock frustration at the first shaggy haired boy "Albus and I have both been it, it's your turn" he reached out and almost caught James on the shoulder, who jumped quickly out of the way and right into a door, causing Scorpius to howl with laughter.

"That's what you get!" Albus called out to his twin almost running into Scorpius himself. Scorpius stared at the man leaning on the wall, he had the same colored hair as Scorpius did and from where he was standing he looked utterly defeated "oy, Scorpius that man looks like he could be your dad."

Scorpius looked over his shoulder at Albus "I think he might be."

"Well, why don't you go over there and talk to him!?" James slid up to the pair also taking a stance to stare at the man.

Scorpius shook his head "Mum said he got married to someone else..." he looked over at his best mates and shrugged "and besides he's never met me and what if he didn't want to meet me?" He looked down at his shoes recalling all the times his mum had told him that his father would have loved him to pieces but stars just didn't align at the time. Whatever that meant. Scorpius looked at his friends and in an instant his arm shot out and landed on James' shoulder "tag! You're it!" He cackled and ran away as fast as he could.

As he ran he kept a eye on the man down the hall. When his Uncle Harry had emerged from his office Scorpius bent down and pretended to tie his shoe. The man's face came into view and Scorpius almost gasped. He had seen his face in photos before and this man was most certainly his father, Draco Malfoy.

"Boys!" Scorpius stood up and looked over at his fiery aunt "I don't know what in the world has possessed you to run around the ministry like a bunch of wild hippogriffs but I better find out soon" she grabbed James and Albus by the ears and ushered them out.

Scorpius thanked his lucky stars that Aunt Ginny wasn't his mum. He didn't want a sister and he quite liked not having his ears tugged on.

"Aunt Ginny?" Scorpius looked behind him down the hallway. A part of him wanted his dad to come and scoop him up and take him home, he missed his mum and he was sure she'd be happy to see him but the other part of him knew it was never going to happen and that his dad probably had new, wanted kids with Scorpius' step-mum.

"Yes Scorpius dear?"

"Who was that man talking to Uncle Harry?" He glanced up at his aunt and brushed some of his hair out of his eyes in the process "seems really chummy with him, doesn't he? But he's never been around you or my mum."

Ginny slowed her pace and Scorpius felt relief on his own ears as she let go of her sons "it's probably just a work friend." Ginny turned and looked at Scorpius who in turn took to looking at his shoes "I've never met him before in my life." He watched as she glanced back one more time before ushering them through the door.

 _.xx._

Scorpius was still covered in soot from the floo back to his Uncle Harry's house at dinner. So much so that he had little piles of soot around him at the table. James and Albus were the same where his aunt and his cousin Lily were almost all clean. He dug into his lasagna and attempted to listen to his friends arguing across the table, but his thoughts felt loud and deafening, almost drowning out the sound of his friends bickering.

"Earth to Scorpius!" Albus waved his hand in front of the blondes face until Scorpius was staring at a blurry hand in front of his face.

"Get your grimy hand outta my face!" He pushed it away and looked at his friend who was grinning.

"I saiiiiiiiiid do you wanna fly before we go to bed? I bed dad would let us try the firebolt this time since were basically ten!"

"I told you Albus, you have to wait until your father gets home." Ginny looked at the clock and then at the fireplace. Scorpius noticed that she looked anxious.

"Aw But mum!"

Scorpius suppressed a smirk as he watched his Aunt shoot Albus a look "there are no but's about it! You wait to fly until your father comes home."

Albus huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he leaned back in his chair "that's not fair mum! You can watch us! You played for the harpies!"

"Yeah!" James piped up "unless you're too much like a blast ended—"

"James Sirius you finish that statement then you're grounded until you graduate Hogwarts."

"Mate..." Scorpius looked over to James "I think you should listen to her." He glanced at Albus "I mean she's your mum" he watched his aunt get up from her position at the table and started grabbing plates "and if you're nice you might get extra dessert" he grinned and felt a small wallop at the back of his head "...or not."

"Mummy always gives me extra dessert!" Lily straightened up in her seat, clutching her fork in her right hand.

"Yeah because you're a suck up." James sneered and slumped in his seat at the loss of extra dessert.

"Mum never gives you extra dessert!" Albus looked at his sister and then between the two boys "she sneaks extra cookies in the jar after dad comes home or when mum is writing for Quidditch Daily. She thinks mum doesn't know but..." he looked at the fireplace that sprung to life and Scorpius turned around just in time to watch his Uncle fall through, just about as dirty as himself.

"Honestly, j don't see how you boys get so filthy. These three refused to wash anything but their hands before tucking in." Ginny said as she wiped her hands on a dish towel "and look at you!" She wiped the soot off his uncle's shoulders and Scorpius wondered if this was something his mum would have done with his dad. When his Aunt and uncle kissed all three boys groaned and Lily laughed.

"DAD!" James and Albus jumped out of their chairs and ran toward him. Scorpius slipped out of his chair and walked toward his favorite uncle before giving him a hug and getting more ash on his face.

"We should really clean that fireplace better, eh?" He looked down at the boys and laughed.

"Your glasses are broken!" Scorpius looked up at the older man and laughed "Mum always knows how to fix them!" He cranked his neck around to look at his Aunt "do you?"

His aunt rolled her eyes "anything to see magic." She smiled slightly and brought out her wand and Scorpius was thrilled as he watched the glasses repair themselves. His mum used magic but since neither of them wore glasses he never got to see them repaired and although he wasn't going say it out loud, it was one of the best things about getting to stay the holidays "these boys have been on one since we left the ministry." She put her hands on her hips "you best take them flying sometime tonight before they degnome the garden tomorrow because that's all they're doing." Scorpius, Albus and James groaned and stomped out the back door "and if they keep putting soot all over this house they're going to be cleaning the house the muggle way!"

 _.xx._

Scorpius was the last one to take a shower that night and he was thoroughly exhausted. His uncle let him take the firebolt around the back yard and it had taken Scorpius three falls in the mud before he finally got the hang of his uncle's fast broom. It definitely wasn't like the cleansweeps aunt Ginny made them ride and it was exhilarating. The wind tangled his curls and burnt his cheeks. His arms had ached and his legs were just as sore as his stomach was from laughing at James and Albus on the broom. He thought about Lily who seemed to be a natural on the broom and seemed to remain as clean as she did when she stepped out of the fireplace. It bewildered Scorpius that girls could stay so clean while everyone else got dirty.

He laid in the bed in the room he kept while over at his Aunt and Uncles house and groaned slightly. He had been laying here for at least an hour unable to sleep because he was sore and thirsty and he knew that at least his uncle was up, he barley slept because of night terrors like his mum. He threw the covers off his body and stood up slipping on the puppy dog slippers he had gotten last Christmas and snuck his way to the stairs where he heard voices at the bottom.

"Are you sure he saw him?"

"Of course I'm sure, Gin. He was looking at Scorpius over my shoulder like he was on a mission. I'm not entirely sure he bought that Scorpius was Teddy."

"What do we do?" His Aunt's voice was so quiet he barley heard it.

"I'm not sure." There was a long pause before his uncle started to speak again "if we told Hermione that Malfoy spotted him—"

"He might never come back and that would kill the boys."

"Exactly. She wouldn't do it out of malice but of fear. Who knows what Malfoy is going to do? They didn't exactly part on the best of terms did they?"

"I'm just saying that if the git really loved her like she said he did then I don't see why he would have ran off with Astoria Greengrass of all people. She was a year below me so two for him. I doubt he even knew she existed."

Uncle Harry sighed and Scorpius knew he'd be looking into the mug of tea he knew his uncle drank at this time.

"I don't know, Gin. If we don't tell her and she finds out she's going to curse us to Hogwarts and back. We're going to have to tell her."

"Maybe it'll be easier now that you know—"

"— that Astoria has passed on? Yeah, maybe."

Scorpius' breath caught in his throat and he turned around and went back to his room forgetting about the pain potion and the water he was about to ask for. He had learned a lot of things that he probably shouldn't have. For a long time his mum had been lying to him about their stars aligning, his father had up and left his mum for someone who was now gone. Hope bubbles up in his stomach, larger than the guilt he was experiencing for being a bit happy that Astoria Greengrass wasn't with his father anymore. He knew it was sad and he'd ask forgiveness from Merlin later but hope was there. Maybe his father lived in England still and maybe he could convince his mum to move back, after all she wanted him to go to Hogwarts! Maybe soon he'd have the family he desperately wanted.

Scorpius laid in back in bed that night and wondered what it would have been like to have a father. Yeah, he had Phil and he was cool. Phil had taught him how to ride a bike, read him his favorite bedtime stories and told him about how cool the ninja turtles were but he also left. He supposed he had his uncle harry and uncle harry was awesome! He was an auror and Scorpius wanted to be just like him when he grew up. As he fell asleep he thought about what his father was and if he'd have liked to have been that when he grew up too. That night he dreamt of his dad and all the cool jobs he had to have had but the best dream of all, that Scorpius couldn't remember when he woke up that morning, was his mum and dad waving him off to Hogwarts, as a family.

 **Authors note:** I really wanted to do a Scorpius POV chapter and I think I might do a few more because he was so fun to write for! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, added this story to their favorites and alerts. I thank you all so so much! Please review :)


	14. Chapter Thirteen

"Mummy!" Scorpius slipped out of the fireplace and ran straight to Hermione, wrapping his arms around her waist "I've missed you! Oh!" He grinned and got on his knees "we went to visit Uncle Ron in Diagon Alley and he gave me this really cool spinning top. It blows bubbles as it spins but the bubbles are cotton candy flavored. It's the only one uncle harry would let me have, I wanted the one that smelled like farts and gave you boils when it popped!" He snickered "we also got you this..." he paused and stuck out his tongue as he dug through his bag. Hermione had put an undetectable extension charm on it before he had left and was thankful that she did "we went to honeydukes well, not the honeydukes but it was like honeydukes! We got chocolate wands and—- and—-"Scorpius grunted "And Bertie bits every flavored beans! I got lemon and dirty foot!" He laughed and jerked his arm out "here we go! I told uncle harry i couldn't reach it if he put it there. He says I'm to wait to give this to you at Christmas but..." he shrugged and held out a large package.

"Scorpius Charles Malfoy what do you think you're doing? I thought your uncle told you to wait to give that to her."

"Ginny" Hermione practically sighed and rushed toward her friend, wrapping her arms around her shoulders in a warm embrace "I've missed you so much. I've been meaning to visit but with the shop and all."

Ginny smiled "it's alright! I get it, I helped you with it and that was enough for me" she chuckled and hugged Hermione back tightly before letting go "I've been busy with all myself lately, with all the quidditch and all, but now that the holidays are coming around it should die off. Bartholdi Vendici disappeared from the Italian semifinals. It's been news for weeks. The other day he was found wearing a straw hat while eating an ice cream cone on a ice burg." Ginny laughed and nodded "a cruise ship passed by and turned around because they thought he had ship wrecked" she laughed.

Hermione chuckled and moved to the table in the kitchen, Ginny followed and Scorpius retreated to his room after mentioning his cotton candy bubbles "how is Ron?"

"Completely barmy." Ginny rolled her eyes and conjured up some tea for the both of them "he and lavender brown are expecting their fourth child." Ginny stirred her tea and looked up at Hermione "I don't think he's happy with her and with another baby on the way..." she sighed and shrugged "I think he's just been grateful that none have been passed her lycanthropy."

Hermione looked at Ginny and sighed "but Ron must know that she can't help that. She didn't ask for it."

Ginny nodded "I know. I think he does too, deep down. Just worried, ya know? She's been a Lycan for almost a decade, she leaves for eight days a month. It's tough on Ron to take care of the boys and help run the joke shop. Other than that he's fine, misses you a lot, Hermione."

She smiled and nodded "I miss him too! It's so hard to fly an owl that far and if he'd only learn how to use a telephone..." she laughed "but I'm glad he's well, considering."

"Which brings me to my next point." Ginny put her mug down and looked at Hermione, causing her to get nervous worms in the pit of her stomach "we saw Draco at the ministry last week."

"Oh of course! He's there on business." She nodded her head and sighed gratefully as the worms left her stomach.

"You knew?"

"Oh yes! Draco and I ran into each other about a month ago and we've been catching up. He lives in a chateaux not too far from Paris, supposedly"

"Does he know about Scorpius?"

Hermione set her mug down and shook her head "no, it just hasn't been the right time..."

"You've been saying that for nine years Hermione. You're going to have to tell him soon. If you plan on moving back to Britain for Scorpius to go to Hogwarts, Draco has to know. And if he didn't know then, then he's probably getting suspicious"

Hermione glanced at her friend, narrowing her eyes a bit "what do you mean?"

"When we saw Draco at the ministry he had been staring at Scorpius. Harry came out of his office in time to distract him. He even asked who he was and Harry said it was Teddy. Bless his heart because the boy is in Hogwarts. I'm not sure if Draco bought it but he has been badgering harry this entire week about him." Ginny looked at the table and then back at Hermione "sooner rather than later yeah?"

"Yeah."

 _.xx._

Hermione sat on the couch after Scorpius had went to bed and stared at the glass of moscato perched in her hand. She had typed in a text an hour ago but failed to send it, it felt silly although it was simple. It made her feel like a school girl again as the thought of getting a text back had become exciting.

She laughed out loud at the thought and shook her head. How ridiculous, he probably wasn't waiting for her to text him. She took a large swig of the wine in her cup and set it on the table next to her. A bit of liquid courage didn't hurt, especially when it was as tasty as the moscato in her cup. She grabbed her mobile and swiped it open, pausing briefly to smile at the photo of Scorpius playing in the leaves last autumn. She tapped on the screen a few times before typing out a text and staring at it before she mustered up what was left of her gryffindor courage and hit send.

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 9:53pm**

 **Hey! I know this is a long shot being in England and all, just wondering how your arrangement is coming?**

 **To: Hermione Granger**

 **Time: 9:59pm**

 **It's going as well as it can. Hoping to be done in two more days.**

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 10:01pm**

 **That's fantastic news! I'm a bit surprised to hear from you, I didn't expect anything until your return. Is the manor muggle side?**

 **To: Hermione Granger**

 **Time: 10:05pm**

 **decided not to stay at the manor. It's incredibly dirty and a bit drafty. Not to mention it's a bit loud. Found muggle hotel not too far from ministry. It's supposed to be 5 star but I haven't seen any stars around here. Ha ha.**

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 10:07pm**

 **You're incredibly slow at texting. Was I not a good enough teacher?**

 **To: Hermione Granger**

 **Time: 10:10pm**

 **I'm doing very well thanks. If you were a teacher I'd say you were fantastic but you're an insufferable know it all, and they're better suited to be teacher's pets, not teachers.**

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 10:11pm**

 **How so?**

 **To: Hermione Granger**

 **Time: 10:15pm**

 **Because it's wrong to have crushes on teachers. But it's not wrong to have them on insufferable know it all's during first year.**

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 10:18pm**

 **First year? We weren't paired together until fifth and even then it was a bit turbulent at the beginning...**

 **To: Hermione Granger**

 **Time: 10:22pm**

 **Some things have deeper connections. How about we talk about this over tea upon my return?**

 **To: Draco Malfoy**

 **Time: 10:25**

 **You know where to find me. Goodnight, Draco.**

 _.xx._

"I'm sorry I threw up at school, mum." Scorpius muttered as he laid his head on the pillow.

Hermione sat on the little cot she conjured up and pushed Scorpius' curls back from his forehead "oh baby, it's okay. We all get sick." She gently felt his forehead and conjure up a ever cooling cloth "just lay in here and try to go to sleep alright? Mummy will be out in the shop." She glanced at the door "I'm sorry we can't go home right now, but I promise we'll stay home all day tomorrow."

"Can you leave the door cracked open please? Like you do at home?" Scorpius' grey eyes looked up miserably at her and Hermione nodded. She kissed the top of his head and stood up "mummy?"

Hermione stopped by the door and looked over at her son "yes, Scorp?"

"Will you tell me about my dad?" He snuggled down further into the cot, wrapping his blankets around his body tightly "later... when I wake up."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she nodded slightly, realizing that he couldn't hear her head rattle she whispered "yes" before heading out into the shop. She wondered if he had heard her and Ginny talking about him a couple nights ago, it had to be the only reason he had brought him up. She cursed herself for not being careful, for not checking that Scorpius wasn't lurking in the hall like he so often did when the adults were talking. Being around Ginny had made her lower her guard and now she was paying dearly for it. It wasn't as if Scorpius hadn't asked about his father before but more often than not she had told him that their stars hadn't aligned, when in fact they had and they had made the most beautiful constellation in the universe. She smiled to herself as she wove her way through the crowd as she thought of the beautiful albeit sick boy in the back room. Her eyes scanned crowd, pleased with what the festival had brought her. Upset that it caused her to stay here with Scorpius under the weather. She was pleased with the business it brought and knew that she could use the money, with the prospect of moving looming in the back of her mind.

Spotting a familiar hair color she pushed her way through the crowd, muttering apologies along the way "if you were looking for books on how to take tremendous care of bouncing ferrets, we sold out but I could recommend you someone. I know a guy."

Draco threw his head back and laughed "I'm sure you do."

"If you're looking for foul, loathsome evil little cockroaches I have an entire section." She smiled and leaned against the bookcase and crossed her arms "I got your text message today about coming in. It's been such a hectic morning I forgot to respond about tea." She picked a book up off the shelf and examined it for a second modern day dragon taming didn't seem like a topic he would have chosen "I honestly didn't think you'd be done in two days and the start of the festival completely slipped my mind." She slipped the book back on the shelf and made to move down toward the children's books with intent to bring Scorpius some in the back "I'm going to take it that you won?"

Draco snorted as he followed her, bumping shoulders with a rather tall witch with a boil over her left eyebrow "I wish. We still have a weeks left of work to be done. We all have the next two days off and I was told I knew where to find you."

Hermione smiled sadly in his direction "I'm sorry, Malfoy but I can't. I'm busy and—"

"What about dinner?"

Hermione shook her head and absentmindedly chewed on her bottom lip "my place at 8?" She watched as Draco nodded and some words came out of his mouth but she couldn't hear them as the ringing in her ears had become loud. She couldn't believe she had just invited him over to where she had lived, where Scorpius would be, in closer proximity than he was now. As she walked toward the front desk she shot a glance at her slightly cracked office door and smiled slightly. Maybe tonight she'd tell Draco about their son.

"Granger? Did you hear a thing I said?"

Hermione looked up at him, startled slightly that the loud ringing in her ears had subsided "hm?"

He looked at her and blinked slowly. Hermione studied his face "I was asking if you wanted Chinese or Italian?"

"Chinese is delightful." She smiled and grabbed a piece of paper scribbling down her address "here it is, just call me if you get lost?"

Draco looked at the piece of paper and nodded "sure. See you tonight, Hermione."

"See you tonight, Draco." She smiled slightly as he retreated and made her way back into her office where her sick boy laid, Emeline was more than capable of handling a large crowd for a few minutes. Besides, she now had more pressing matters to attend to, like how in Merlin's name was she going to bring up Scorpius tonight.

 **Authors Note:** I hope you all enjoyed! Draco is going to Hermione's flat, where Scorpius is going to be. I wonder what is going to happen. Hmmmmm..


	15. Chapter fourteen

The piece of paper that he held in his right hand had become soggy and the ink had started to run making the print almost unreadable. Just another muggle invention that lacked substance. Sure a pen and paper seemed like a good idea but ink that didn't smear when wet was a better idea and was one of his favorites while in Hogwarts. Living under the black lake meant the occasional drip and it more often than not found its way to student's things. He remembered how enthusiastic Hermione had been when he showed her and how she demanded that he tell her where he bought it because she absolutely needed some. He refused to tell her and for Christmas that year he ended up brewing her some, she had been so enthusiastic about it and he often saw its jet black ink bottle perched on her desk, her favorite quill perched in her hand.

He knitted his eyes together and adjusted the plastic bag in his left hand before he looked down at the paper again before looking back up at the building. This was it. He licked his lips and trudged up the stairs and through the lobby door. He looked around the lobby at its marble floors to its large potted plants between the stair case and a door with large gold 111A fixed to the front. He looked back down at the smeared paper in his hand and looked down to try to read what it had said, he was pretty sure she was on the second floor and there was no way he could have called her as he left his mobile on his desk at home, too anxious to get here. Perhaps he'd see his son, perhaps she made their plans so late so he'd be asleep. It was quite early for a boy of 9 and he didn't miss the way she kept glancing at her office door when he was at the shop earlier. He sighed and shoved the paper in his pocket and trudged up the stairs to the apartment he believed was hers and knocked on the door with baited breath.

Hermione opened the door after a few second and Draco had noticed she looked a little pale and a little sweaty "Draco" she breathed and opened the door a little wider "come in! I'm sorry if it's a bit messy, I just got a shipment of books in and I wanted to categorize them before they went to the shop."

He stepped in and glanced around the apartment. Aside from the stacks of books littering her kitchen table the place was immaculate and Draco was impressed at the sheer size of the place. He never imagined flat could be this big, he had always imagined them dark, tiny and damp not big, bright and comforting like Hermione's had been. The walls in the living room were a light blue, the couch a dark grey and the frames that were curiously empty were silver. The end tables matched the white coffee table and they both had matched the long stand that the flat moving picture box rested on. There were plants sprinkled around the living room that trickled into the kitchen which was a darker blue with gold colored pots and pans hanging fashionably on the wall. Photos trickled into the kitchen too, gold frames that held photos of Hermione and her parents in Australia, A few of Harry Ron and Hermione sat atop the bar counter where chairs sat neatly pushed in, a backpack of a yellow square with eyes hooked over the side. The tan carpet was plush under his shoes and he wondered what it was like to live in a place so warm instead of a place so cold. The chateaux, while beautiful, was meant as a vacation home and not for long term stays. It was drafty and even in the summer remained cold and drafty.

"Would you like a grand tour?" Hermione asked leaning on the door frame to the kitchen. Her pink jumper was a size too big and her jeans seemed to be a size too small and looked to be really tight around her ankles. Her bare feet were crossed at the ankles and a dark red polish decorated her toes. The last time Draco had seen her like this was Christmas of sixth year when he ended up giving her the ink. The last time he was truly happy.

"Sure!" He looked down at his shoes and kicked them off, it felt improper to walk all over her clean carpet with his wet and dirty shoes.

"Well this is the kitchen." She threw a shaky arm out to her side "your usual kitchen except the sink is in the corner of the counter, which is different." She giggled slightly and slowly pushed off the wall "and obviously the living room..."

"What happened to the photos?" He questioned pointing at the empty frames.

"I just haven't found anything to put in there yet"

His lying little witch. "Photos of you and saint potter?" He suggested "like the ones in your kitchen?" Hermione looked behind her as they walked down the hallway and Draco noticed it looked like she had about passed out "are you alright, Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at him, her brown eyes turned up to him "oh yes, I'm quite alright." She smiled weakly and turned back around walking down the hallway "this is my room" she opened the door and to Draco's surprise it was decorated in different shades of purple, a white four poster bed was situated in the middle of the largest wall and he spotted on her nightstand a few more photos, but the largest one had been of him and her, with her cheek pressed against the his and the Colosseum in the background. Rome had been special and he remembered how hard Hermione had laughed as she tried to get both of them in the photo. She shut the door so abruptly that he was sure his nose would have been cut off if he was any closer "this is the guest bedroom, and right here is the bathroom." She smiled slightly before sniffling a little.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He turned them back around and put his hand at the small of her back, leading her back into the living room.

"Oh yeah. It's just the festival always has me on edge. It's our busiest time, if you can believe it. We're never this busy even around Christmas!" She smiled at him and shrugged "you got take away?" She eyed the bag and walked over to it "oh! Li's is my favourite!"

He looked at the spitfire in front of him and wondered how in the world she was still moving with how sick she seemed to be. She had been fine earlier when he had seen her which made him wonder who else was sick. "I got a bunch of different items, I wasn't sure what you wanted."

Hermione stood next to him, helping him unpack the tiny white take away cartons. He felt her sway beside him and was secretly thankful when she had taken the chicken lo mein to the couch and sat down upon it, nestling into its depths with chopsticks sticking out of the carton.

After they had their fill of chicken, pork and egg rolls Hermione had put on a movie and much to Draco's delight, had snuggled close to him. He noticed the way she shook slightly as if she was cold but he felt her forehead on his arm and it had been hot enough to feel through the fabric of his long sleeved tee shirt.

Once the movie ended Draco stood up and helped Hermione off the couch "I should be going" he shuffled his way toward the door, enjoying the way the plush carpet felt under his toes.

"So soon?"

He nodded having a horrible case of Deja Vu, he even imagined the black spot on his arm pricking "big day tomorrow." He muttered slipping on his shoes.

"Okay." She hit her bottom lip and looked up at him and he couldn't resist himself any longer as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. She made a sound of surprise but after a few seconds she parted her lips and allowed his tongue entry before she abruptly pulled away "I'm so sorry" she rushed before she spilled the entire contents of her stomach on to his Dragon hide shoes.

 _.xx._

Draco slipped Hermione into her bed only to have her come out twenty minutes later. His shoes were once again abandoned but this time they sat outside the door. He was currently sitting on the couch with Hermione's head in his lap and his hands dancing through his curls.

"Don't leave us" she whispered hoarsely.

"I'm sorry?" He leaned forward and looked at her face, her eyes were closed and her breathing had managed to say that she was asleep.

"Don't leave us" she repeated "like you did a long time ago." She rolled over in her sleep "Scorpius and me" she muttered before she was back to gentle breaths causing Draco's blood to turn to ice.

For the next few hours Draco alternated between holding Hermione's hair back while she vomited in the trash can he conjured up to wrapping the curls around his finger while _don't leave us_ echoed through his mind as he drifted off to sleep

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione woke up with her head throbbing. Her whole body had hurt and if she was dying she wasn't sure this is how she wanted to go. A faint noise came from somewhere in the apartment causing Hermione to sit up only to be met with horror and the night flooding back to her in an instant.

Draco Malfoy was slumped down, his head lolling off to the left and faint snores came from him. His hand had been draped causally across Hermione's back and was now haphazardly pulled on top of her shoulder as she had moved her position from laying to sitting.

She remembered how she had started to feel like rubbish not too long after her and Scorpius had returned home, after she had tried to feed Scorpius some chicken broth and toast she had thrown up in the kitchen sink and after she put her son to bed she fell asleep on the couch only to be woken by the knocking at the door. She had quickly vanished the photos of Scorpius that sat above the couch and opened the door. She had felt so sick and was very surprised when dinner had stayed down, until it didn't. Mortified Hermione relived vomiting on Draco's shoes after he had kissed her.

He had kissed her.

She inwardly groaned and gently moved Draco's arm only to realize Scorpius had curled up on the other side of Draco, his blond hair shining bright against Draco's dark shirt and his grey eyes were wide open, staring directly at her as he was cuddled under the arm of his father.

"Hey scorp" she whispered and sat up fully "how about we go back to your room?"

He stared at her and then looked up at Draco uncurling his legs and sitting up himself "is this my dad?" His voice was soft as if trying not to wake him and Hermione closed her eyes tightly.

"Yes Scorpius, it is." She whispered back "If you do me one big favor I'll tell you everything you want to know." She looked at him, positive that desperation filled her eyes.

He nodded slightly and looked at the man next to him. Hermione studied them both and watched as Scorpius moved some hair off Draco's forehead before touching his own "I have to go back to my room, don't I?"

Hermione smiled sadly and nodded "yeah, I'm sorry bud. Just for a little bit, okay? Then we'll talk."

Scorpius nodded and stood up, careful not to touch Draco more than he already was "I don't have to go to school today, so I?" He looked up at her and Hermione shook her head and he nodded slightly before retreating to his bedroom.

Hermione sighed after the boy and looked down at the man on her couch. His hair had fallen flat reminding her of fifth year and his shirt had become crumpled and she wondered if his neck had hurt from being completely lolled over.

"Draco?" Hermione moved forward slightly and her stomach rolled with her. Whatever her and Scorpius had, had not completely passed her yet. "Draco, Draco wake up." She gently padded his cheek with her hand until he started to stir.

"Didifallssleep?" he gasped before running his hand down his face.

Hermione chuckled slightly "you must have."

He opened one eye and looked at her "you're looking better than yesterday." He mumbled "which is hard because you look fantastic every day" he closed his eye again and rolled his head over to the other side. "You threw up when I kissed you."

"I know" Hermione groaned and leaned back on the couch, Draco's arm snaked its way around her shoulders "I should mention that it was in no way criticism." She glanced up at him before laying her head on his shoulder "I owe you shoes."

She felt the low rumble of Draco's laugh "they're my oldest pair of Dragon hide shoes, its okay." She felt his cheek rest against the top of her head "are you going into the bookshop today?"

"No, and I hate to leave Emeline alone today."

"I could go and help?"

Hermione laughed and looked up at him "oh, you're serious. Yes, I suppose." She put her finger on her chin and chewed on her bottom lip "as long as you steer clear of the register unless Emeline helps I suppose..." she coughed a bit and reached for the table "where's my mobile?" She frowned and grabbed her wand from between the cushions "Accio mobile" she snatched the phone out of the air as it zoomed in from the kitchen "I'll just text her that you're meeting her there instead and..." she looked over at him "there are shirts in my office, teal ones, red and green are for Christmas and it's only the middle of October. And honestly Draco what are you still doing here? Emeline can't let herself in, I lost the key two years ago. Alohamora and a simple locking charm will do the trick. Now get your shoes and get!"

Draco stood up off the couch and Hermione followed, she was most certainly going to throw up in the potted plant that sat right next to the door as soon as Draco left and after that, she was going to have a long difficult talk with her son, one she planned to have much, much later.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Scorpius sat on his bed listening to the mumbled voices of his mother and father on the other side of the door. It wasn't fair that his mum could see him, but he couldn't. After a while he heard the voices stop and the sound of a door close before his mum walked into his room ten minutes later. She spotted him on his bed half underneath his dark blue comforter.

"I know you have questions." She sat at the edge of his bed and rested her hand on his foot "would you rather ask them here or out in the living room? I can make tea and toast, we both need something after last night."

Scorpius took a deep breath through his nose "the living room I guess." He slung back the covers and stood up. The pants of his iron man pajamas stopping right above his ankles. He looked down and frowned, these were his favorite pajamas after the ninja turtle ones he outgrew last month. His stomach growled and he hoped it was for breakfast and not to spill his guts all over the floor again like he did at school, he didn't want to be known as vomir le garçon forever. "Can I have peanut butter and bananas on my toast?"

His mum looked over at him and smiled before she nodded "of course." She made her way into the kitchen while Scorpius sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar "does he know about me?"

He watched as his mum stiffened slightly before she continued to search the cupboards for the peanut butter he wanted "no, he doesn't."

"Why not?"

"It's a very complicated story, scorp. I'm not sure you'd understand"

"well, tell me. Help me understand, mum"

He watched intently as she turned around with the bread and other utensils floated behind her, preparing the rest of their breakfast.

"From the beginning?" Scorpius nodded and "okay" the toast popped out of the toaster and the peanut butter swiped itself across the top before plopping on his plate with a gentle thud "I first met your father on the train to Hogwarts when we were eleven. He was polite enough when he asked to sit in my compartment. He was kind and chatty and a lot like you are now, he shared his sweets and automatically knew what house he would he when he got there. He had asked me what house he thought I was going to be in and I told him I didn't know. I knew all about the houses of course because I read _Hogwarts, a history_ many times over before I got there and that's when he started getting suspicious of my blood heritage."

"Why?"

His mum let out a low chuckle "well, for a long, long time it was believed that muggle born witches and wizards were less than those who came from magical families. That they didn't have a place in the wizarding world or that they should learn magic. Half bloods were giving just a bit more of respect but things changed. Muggle born witches and wizards became widely accepted and started holding high ranking positions" She smiled at him and slowly took a bite of her toast as if she were afraid of it. "But there were pure blooded wizarding families that kept to the old way of thinking, and one family, happened to be your fathers."

"So why did you have me when dad thought you were lower than him?" Scorpius pulled a face and his mum reached over and wiped his cheek free of sticky peanut butter.

"Well, he made things really difficult for myself the first couple years. I don't believe he thought I was lesser than him, I just think he tried to save face for his family name." Scorpius finished his toast and his mum and he moved over to the couch where she conjured up the fuzziest blankets he could have ever imagined. He loved magic "I think..." she said pausing a second "...that he was just angry that I bested him in every subject. He was always right below me in classes, always number two." She chuckled a bit and Scorpius looked up at her.

"I'm always number one in my classes!" He grinned

"And I'm so very proud." She kissed the top of his head "your father and I got paired in charms in our fourth year and that's when we started to fancy each other" Scorpius pulled a disgusted face and shook his head "and we dated in secret for a couple of years."

"The war?"

She nodded and held him closer "the war. You're a bit of light that stemmed from the war." She smiled and rested her cheek on top of his head "before uncle Harry faced Voldemort your father was standing behind me, refusing to go to the dark side. But his mum, your grandmother, told him to go to them, and you can't deny your mother so he went and that was the last I saw of him in person."

"Because he married someone else. Why didn't you tell him about me before he did? Maybe it would have changed his mind"

"By the time I found out you were with me, it was too late. His family had announced his engagement to Astoria right after the war and they wed two months later, not too long before I found out."

Scorpius looked at his mum and back at the TV she had refused to turn on while they had their conversation. "Is he still married to Astoria?"

She shook her head "no, she passed away about five years ago I suppose."

"So why not tell him now? What's holding you back?" He glanced over at his mother as his hands started to shake. Why wouldn't she tell his dad about him? Was she ashamed? Was he some type of mistake she didn't want a pure blooded family to know about? He huffed out of frustration and ran his hands through his curly hair before balling them back into a fist at his sides. He wasn't sure he should have told her that he already knew, that he already knew everything she was telling him, but what made him the most upset was that now she was gone, he was still a mystery to the man who had slept on their couch last night.

"Scorpius it's not that simple to tell someone that they have a child after all these years..."

"So are you ashamed of me?" He asked, his agitated voice rising a bit. "Is that it? All I am is a mistake?"

"I never said you were a mistake..." she blinked, her mouth slightly ajar "...and I'm never ashamed of you Scorpius, I've been so proud of you and I show you off to everyone I know—-"

"Everyone except dad!" He huffed "it's not fair that I get to watch Albus and James have a dad and then come home to no one except you!" He stood up quickly causing him to feel a little woozy "and this whole time for the last five years you've been keeping us away from each other!" He gestured wildly with his arms "I wouldn't have to be that weird boy at school who doesn't have a dad!" His voice cracked slightly and he turned away from her "to have someone understand what it's like to be a boy"

He sighed and turned back around at her "and you kept me from him! On purpose! You're the worst mother imaginable and I never want to speak to you again!" He screamed before running off into his room and slamming the door. He had slammed the door so hard he heard one of the pictures on the wall crash to the ground and his mother's tearful voice fixing it magically.

 _.xx._

He laid in his bed most of the day when he felt the sickest. When his mum came into the room he pretended to be asleep and she left a bowl of chicken noodle soup and crackers by his bedside. When she wasn't in his room touching his hair or his cheek she was in the living room where she was probably knitting a scarf or a warm woolly hat.

After a while he got tired of lying in bed with no TV to keep him company so he sat on the floor next to his Batman figurine and his ninja turtles. They didn't have dads either or cousins who had the best dad in the world. They didn't live in a stupid city with a stupid tower or have a mum who kept big secrets from them. They got to fight crime and eat pizza every day and Scorpius longed to do just that, but all while riding a broomstick.

A little bit later his mum came in carrying dinner, more soup which he had found delicious even though he wasn't about to tell her so. If he didn't have to talk to her for the rest of his life he'd be happy.

"You have every right to be upset Scorpius. Just remember that being an adult means making the best decisions that you can in that moment. There's no book that prepares you for these things. I wish there were, maybe you wouldn't be so mad at me." She cleared her throat and Scorpius stared at Batman, refusing to glance her way "I just want to let you know that I'm trying and when I do, I hope you'll be with me so you two can properly meet." She tousled his hair before bending over placing a kiss into his blond curls "just try to remember that I love you"

He listened to his mother shut the door before he turned around and devoured the soup she left out for him. Her chicken soup was the best and she always used the car shaped noodles he liked so much. He might have been a little hasty calling her the worst mother imaginable. He knew she wasn't but he just couldn't understand why she had kept such a secret from him and his father.

 _.xx._

It seemed like Scorpius wasn't asleep for too long when the boom of thunder woke him up. His heart sped up and he quickly pulled his iron man bed sheets up over his head as lighting flickered outside his window. He knew he'd have to time it properly because everyone knew if lightning saw you out of bed it would come through your window and shock you. Once the flickering had subsided he grabbed Batman, yanked open his door and ran out of the room. It didn't take him long to find his way into his mum's bed curling right up beside her.

"It's okay, Scorpius." She whispered sleepily before turning over and enveloping him in a tight hug "I'll always protect you."

Maybe he'd apologize tomorrow.

 **Authors Note:** Thanks to **AuntCori** , **CNova** and **KKlausen** for the reviews on the last chapter. Thanks to **bluesm** and **CNova** for the reviews two chapters ago. I forgot last chapter and I apologize! I was just very eager to get it out. I was having trouble with this chapter, I'm not sure I got Scorpius' emotions right, I had a few friends read and they said that it sounded awkward and so I fixed it, or at least I hope I did. He's a 10 year old boy so I figured he's going to get irrationally angry and go from zero to sixty in no time flat. I have no idea, I've never been a ten year old boy. I hope you all enjoyed, Please review


	17. Chapter Sixteen

_December 1994_

 _Hermione peaked around the corner of the staircase, her hand fiddling with her necklace. It felt wrong to be here in her periwinkle dress in front of all these people. She inhaled deeply as she spotted Viktor and made her way down the stairs, as confidently as her fourteen year old self could carry her._

" _Her-mi-one" Viktor grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on top of it before leading her into the great hall but not before she smiled and squeaked a bit at Harry as she passed by._

 _The champion dance had went smoothly as it could have went. Viktor has stepped on her toes more than a handful of times in the short period that left them and the others as the center of attention, something she wasn't quite used to. She secretly thanked Merlin as professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore made their way to the dance floor, followed by Hagrid and Madame Maxine._

 _She let her one of her hands rest on Viktor's shoulders while the other one was tightly crushed in Viktor's meaty hand. He was nervous, almost as nervous as she had been, although she was sure she took the title of 'most nervous' between the two. In all reality she hadn't expected to be invited by anyone let alone Viktor Krum and had a study timetable set up for herself in her backpack for just the occasion and although she was thrilled to tend to the ball she was slightly disappointed she didn't get to do anything on her timetable._

" _Do you like quidditch, Her-mi-one?"_

 _She looked up at his face and nodded slightly "well enough I suppose. I just really go to games to watch Harry play." She searched the crowd for his messy black hair and after skimming by Draco's slightly shaggy blond mop a couple of times she had given up. There were times she had found herself at the pitch in the late afternoon to study and had often sat in on the blond boys quidditch practices where he'd often fly close to her section just to annoy her. "Do you play on a team back at Durmstrang?"_

 _He shook his head "no, I am not allowed. Obligated by contract to keep my feet on the ground at school."_

 _Hermione nodded and looked around for harry again, her eyes skimming past Pansy who looked like a pug who was having respiratory issues "you're staying in the slytherin common room, aren't you?" She watched as Viktor nodded "are they okay? The dungeons can get awful drafty this time of year. I've never been in the slytherin common room so I couldn't tell you myself but I'd believe they would being under the black lake and all." She rambled. She always rambled._

" _The dungeons are perfect. A little leaky but zey are okay. Much better than staying on ship."_

 _Viktor twirled her around the dance floor and Hermione laughed at the look on Pansy Parkinson's face every time they flittered past her. She heard the slur every time they passed her but it hadn't bothered her since second year and she certainly wasn't going to let it spoil her night._

" _I can't believe they got the weird sisters to play!" Hermione jumped up and down as her and Viktor made their way to the stage._

" _Who?"_

 _Hermione looked up at him and back at the stage "the weird sisters! They're the best band in England! I'm sure you've heard of them!" She yelled over the loud music, jumping along with the others._

" _Vot?"_

 _Hermione laughed slightly and looked over at him "let's just dance!" He nodded in agreement._

 _After a few hours of dancing Hermione finally had found Ron and Harry sitting miserably at a table. She smiled at Viktor who mentioned getting punch and made her way over to her two best friends._

" _A bit hot, isn't it?" She breathed fanning herself slightly "Viktor is going to go get punch, do you want to join?"_

 _ **.xx.**_

" _Ron, you spoiled everything!"_

 _Draco left the lavatory and stayed back, Hermione had been yelling at weasel and it had been the best moment of his night. Pansy had done nothing but glare at Hermione every time she passed by with Viktor Krum and then complain on how she was too ugly for him and wasn't sure how in the world he'd let a mudblood touch him._

 _But now she was sitting on the steps undoing the buckle of her shoe and— merlin was she crying? Draco sighed and looked back toward the entrance of the great hall where Pansy sat with Blaise and Theo no doubt complaining about how Viktor didn't ask her to the dance._

" _If it makes you feel any better" Draco started as he made his way to sit on the stairs next to her "weasel ruins breakfast for me every morning."_

 _Hermione laughed slightly and looked over to her left, wiping at her eyes "what are you doing here Malfoy?"_

" _Good question" he scooted a little closer and rested his forearms on his knees "I don't want to go back in there and you were crying out here. I'm just choosing the lesser of two evils"_

" _I can take care of myself, thanks" Hermione looked over at him and his breath caught in his throat. She had looked so beautiful when she walked down the stairs that he almost forgot Pansy was supposed to be his date. He had watched her all night, the way she lit up when she smiled and how sparks seemed to fly when she laughed, he wanted to do that to her, he wanted to make her happy and here she was being difficult with her curls poking crazily in different directions from dancing too hard._

 _He looked at her as she wiped her eyes again and he promptly stood up and looked around the empty stairwell before holding his hand out to her "let's dance."_

 _Hermione's head snapped up toward him, another tear slipping down her cheek. Draco wanted to wipe it away "what?"_

" _Let's dance" he repeated wiggling his hand a little "come on Granger we don't have all night."_

" _It's a slow song..."_

" _Shall I get weasel back here? Maybe his jealousy can bubble over some more..." he paused as her tiny hand took his and she looked down at her feet before bending over and taking off her other show_

 _ **This is your final chance**_ _ **  
**_ _ **To hold the one you love**_ _ **  
**_ _ **You know you've waited long enough**_

" _Please don't step on my feet" she looked up at him chewing on her damn bottom lip. He nodded slightly and stepped closer to her, his heart accelerating as his hands found their way to her waist. She stepped in a bit closer and rested her hands on his shoulders._

 _ **So, believe**_ _ **  
**_ _ **That magic works**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't be afraid**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Of being hurt**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't let this magic die**_ _ **  
**_ _ **The answer's there**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Oh, just look in her eyes**_

" _Like Krum?" He asked looking down at her, had he always been this much taller than her? He was pretty sure that she was taller than him on the train, but anyone looked tall from afar._

 _A chuckle escaped her lips and she nodded "he's not much of a dancer. He's more... physical" he watched as she looked in the great hall and his eyes followed hers to where Viktor was now dancing with Pansy, awkwardly._

 _ **And make your final move**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't be scared, she wants you to**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Yeah, it's hard, you must be brave**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't let this moment slip away**_

" _Physical is an understatement..." Draco muttered slowly turning them in a circle_

 _Hermione laid her head on his chest and his heart beat sped faster. Perhaps he would have a heart attack right here, like a bunny who got too scared too quick._

" _He likes to watch me study." She said after a while, as if contemplating to tell him "it's been a bit annoying really."_

 _ **Now, believe**_ _ **  
**_ _ **That magic works**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't be afraid**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Afraid of being hurt**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Don't let this magic die**_ _ **  
**_ _ **The answer's there**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Yeah, just look in her eyes**_

" _Why did you decide to dance with me, Draco? Why not let me just go back to Viktor?" She lifted her head from his chest, tears swimming in her eyes again. Merlin this witch was emotional tonight "you've bullied me relentlessly throughout school so far, why here, why now?"_

 _He shrugged slightly "you were crying and I was raised better than to let a lady just cry in a stairwell."_

 _Tears rolled down Hermione's face slowly at first before they became crocodile and she buried her face into his shoulder as they continued their slow circle._

 _ **And don't believe that magic can die**_ _ **  
**_ _ **No, no, no, this magic can't die**_

" _I'm sorry for crying into your robes." She whispered as she pawed at the wet spot she had made before sneaking her arms up to clasp gently together behind his neck._

 _He shook his head slightly "these old things? It's fine." He smirked and moved one of his hands away from Hermione's hips and wiped the tears off her face "if it makes you feel any better, you were the most beautiful one here tonight" he whispered leaning in slightly, faintly smelling her usual lavender mixed with a strong mint scent._

 _ **So dance your final dance**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Cause this is your final chance**_

" _Um..." Hermione pulled away from Draco as the song ended, and wiped at the fresh tears that streamed down her face "..thank you for redeeming the ball." She backed away her heels clicking "I'll uh..." she pressed her fingers to her lips as if she could feel the kiss he had so desperately wanted to give her "I'll see you around, Draco." She turned and jogged up the stairs before Draco's words slipped out of his mouth._

" _See you later, Hermione." He stood there watching the periwinkle dress swish ever so slightly and her curls bounce feverishly before his eyes caught the dark brown eyes of Blaise Zabini who held his hands up and walked in the opposite direction, toward the dungeons._

 _A sudden movement caught his attention at the top of the stairs and Hermione in her periwinkle glory appeared once again, slightly jogging down the stairs. His mind raced, maybe she wanted to come back and punch him after coming to her senses, she had danced with the enemy after all. Maybe she wanted to continue where they had left off but as the last students started to filter out of the great hall he doubted it and was highly disappointed when she stopped short of him, grabbing her shoes._

" _Forgot these" she said sheepishly. She turned around and made it up two stairs before turning back around and looking at him "Happy Christmas."_

" _Happy Christmas." He gave her a half smirk before turning on his heel and heading into the dungeons to sleep off his Hermione induced fog._


	18. Chapter Seventeen

"Scorpius still hasn't spoke to me" Hermione looked down into her tea cup and back up at Ginny "it's been two weeks, but all I get are grunts. Do you want a sandwich or pasta for lunch?" Hermione grunted "did you brush your teeth?" Grunt.

Ginny stirred the sugar cube that idly floated at the top of her cup "I think he has a right to be upset about it. And it's been two weeks and you haven't told Draco yet. The longer you wait the rougher it's going to be for Scorpius. He's waiting for you to tell him that he can meet his dad, for real this time." She took a sip of her tea and pulled a face plopping in another sugar cube and another splash of milk.

Hermione groaned and leaned back in her chair "if I can't handle this now, imagine how it's going to be during his teenage years." She crossed her arms and stared at her cup in defiance "his magic was so strong that he busted out one of the windows."

Ginny took another sip and nodded to herself "yeah well hopefully you and Draco are raising him together by then. Maybe he'll hate Draco like the rest of us do and hopefully by then he'll have his magic trained better, to where he won't explode windows when he's angry" Ginny winked at Hermione causing her to roll her eyes "and if you think you have it bad, I have two that are going to go through the same thing at the same time."

Hermione sighed and leaned forward resting her elbows on the table "I just haven't been able to tell him. He's still in England with the ministry and that's just not something you tell someone over a text message or a phone call, gin. It's a matter of importance and should be told face to face. Any other way is just cowardice."

"Like that letter you were going to send him?" Ginny raised an eyebrow at her "oh yes, I know about it 'Mione. I saw it when you we were packing your stuff up to move and I didn't know what it was so I read it-"

"That was very personal, Gin."

"—and I don't know why you didn't send it." She cut a bit of her croissant and popped it into her mouth. Hermione realized that she was taking her time chewing so that she had to answer her or be faced with complete silence until she cut up her croissant piece by piece and ate it that way.

"Because I was scared. I'm still scared, I don't think I'll never not be scared. It's terrifying to tell someone that they're going to have a baby. Just look back at how nervous you were to tell harry." She took a sip of her tea and closed her eyes as its warmth spread through her chest "it was just a couple months after I found out I was pregnant with Scorpius and you were terrified." She took another sip of her tea eying her friend from the rim of the mug "I just want my son to understand, that's all"

Ginny sighed and put her hand on top of Hermione's "I know."

 _.xx._

She and Scorpius walked up the stairs to their fat in silence, as they had spent most of the last two weeks. To avoid being in her company Scorpius would sit in the kitchen and do his homework. When he was finished he'd leave it out for her to check over like she usually did and would retreat into his room to play on his Nintendo DS leaving Hermione to fiddle away in the living room. Mostly she kept to reading Hogwarts, A history but often she'd make tea and had taken to levitating Scorpius' mug to him.

A few seconds after she sent the tea away, a small blond boy appeared, clutching the handle tightly in his hand.

"Why did you stop bringing my tea in?"

"I haven't" Hermione looked at her son "I figured that you needed your time and I thought I'd take my post as worst mother imaginable and levitate it in instead." she shrugged and moved to sit on the couch.

"But it's been every day since Wednesday. It's Sunday." He whined.

"I'm very happy that you're able to tell the days of the week Scorpius" she placed the mug down and opened her book "I looked over your homework. I also think it's a wonderful time to learn a new key word, don't you? " She continued to speak, her eyes never leaving her book although a smile threatened to appear as soon as she heard Scorpius groan "Never: Adverb. Not ever; at no time." She raised her eyes and looked up at him "I do believe you're breaking 'I'm never talking to you again' statement."

Scorpius scoffed and set his tea down on the kitchen table with a loud 'clink' "Never is a long time, don't you think?"

"I do." Hermione nodded in agreement before shoving a bookmark in the book and shutting it. She looked over at her son and stood up and walked over to him by the kitchen table "I hope at one point you're ready to apologize." He opened his mouth and she held up a finger "ah, let me explain. I don't want you to apologize for your emotions, but for the hurtful words you said and for your behavior the last two weeks but never, ever for your emotions. You're allowed to feel angry, hurt, betrayed and you're allowed to cry—"

"Marcus says boys shouldn't cry, it shows weakness."

"—well we won't listen to Marcus now will we? Showing emotions is strong. Hiding them behind hurtful words is weak. Whenever you're ready to apologize then I believe I owe you one as well."

Hermione watched Scorpius' eyes fill with tears before he tackle hugged her "I'm so sorry mummy. I didn't mean to say those things, I was so angry and I'm still really really sad."

Hermione's chin trembled as she wrapped an arm around her son, her other hand holding his head to her stomach tightly "I'm truly sorry for keeping you away for so long. I'm trying to make this right, Scorpius, please be patient with your dear old mum."

Scorpius nodded and sniffed loudly "can I read Hogwarts A history with you mum?"

Hermione laughed softly and nodded "of course, come on" she sat back down on the couch and Scorpius sat next to her. Within a few minutes he was asleep, snoring gently like his father.

 _.xx._

"I'm late I know!" Emeline ran through the door and hung her coat on the rack by the door "but I vas at ze doctor getting some tests done. I've been feeling very sick ze last couple of weeks and I zought maybe I caught zomezing from you and Scorpius l. Ze Doctor es checking and will get back to me on Monday!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her friend "could you be pregnant? I was very sick when I was with Scorpius for the entire first trimester..."

Emeline threw her head back and laughed "oh no, we are very very careful." She walked over to her coat and grabbed a stack of letters out of the pocket "zese came today. Just your normal run of ze mill bills but also zis fancy one." She pulled an extra envelope from her other coat pocket and handed it over to Hermione first.

She looked at the envelope. It was a stark white envelope with white glitter trailing at the edges. In the middle of the envelope in thick curly green lettering was only her name, which meant someone had placed the envelope in her box. She flipped it over and ran the tips of her fingers over the white wax that was marked with the Malfoy house crest. She licked her top lip as she gently opened the envelope, afraid of breaking the wax seal.

 _Lady Narcissa Malfoy and Lord Draco Malfoy request your presence at Grayside estates in Bordeaux France on the 31st of December for their annual New Year's Eve Masquerade ball. Dinner served at 6pm. Please RSVP by owl no later than November 21st._

"It's an invitation" Hermione looked up at Emeline "for a New Year's Eve party in Bordeaux." She blinked slightly and looked back down at the thick Snow White parchment with silver lettering that seemed to glitter on its own. "Draco must have dropped it in the postbox but he didn't tell me he was back in town..." Hermione mused to herself and pulled out her mobile.

 **To: Draco Malfoy  
Time: 10:53am  
you're back in town and you never told me? And here I thought throwing up on your shoes would convince you. **

**To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 11:07am  
I'm still in London. **

**To: Draco Malfoy  
Time: 11:30pm  
what do you mean you're still in London? I got an invitation to your masquerade in my bookshops postbox. It had no address**

 **To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 11:35  
they're enchanted to send directly to the recipient. It must have followed you to the bookshop. I assure you my mother is spending a long holiday in Italy, she's not going around sticking letters in postboxes. **

**To: Draco Malfoy  
Time: 11:37am  
no exploiting house elves to do the dirty work for you?**

 **To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 12:12pm  
I know what you're doing Hermione and it's not going to work. The house elves went with my mother to Italy, they're treated quite well I assure you. **

**To: Draco Malfoy  
Time: 12:15pm  
when you get home, we need to talk. **

_.xx._

"What did you want to talk about?" Draco looked around her flat as he leaned on the door frame of the now open door.

"I don't think I invited you here." She looked at him, a kitchen towel slung over her shoulder.

He shrugged and looked down at his nails "you didn't, but you weren't answering your phone so I figured I'd come over."

"Oh." She opened the door wider and invited him in, thanking Godric that Scorpius was at Marcus' house for the night, it was Friday and after the row her and Scorpius had about his father she decided it would be best "I was listing to some music, I didn't hear it go off."

Draco looked at her and reached toward her face, dusting something off her nose with his first couple of fingers "flour." His hand moved and tucked a curl behind her ear "what did you want to talk about?"

He pulled her out of her thoughts with one simple question that she had refused to answer when he asked as she opened the door. What didn't she want to talk about? She wanted to talk about why he didn't show back up to their spot, how betrayed she felt when she had seen his engagement announcement and how hurt she was when he had married. She wanted to talk about the reason she moved to Paris and most of all Scorpius. She wanted to talk the most about their son, show him the videos she took of his first steps, his first words, and his first day of school. She wanted to show him every piece of artwork he had done that she kept in a box in the bottom of her closet, she wanted to talk about the first time Scorpius blew out the windows when he was two because he didn't get extra goldfish crackers or the first time he rode a broom and how utterly terrified she had been and she wanted to talk about how she did this all herself because raising a child alone was less terrifying than telling him, and how she felt like an utter fool.

"How does your mother know I'm in Paris? And why would she want to invite me?" She looked up at him and moved her way back into the kitchen.

"I told her where you were. She has been trying to invite you for years. Potter has come on the occasion." He shrugged and stood next to her as she started to stir the mixture in the bowl "cookies?"

"Yes they're sco— they're so good I thought I'd make some, you know how much I love—"

"Baking" he finished and reached into the bowl for a taste of the dough that was forming "I remember. How could I forget the great bake off the summer of 1997?"

"It was the cake and bake show." She glanced at him "it usually takes place in November but they had done a special summer show." She side eyed him and put down her spatula "Why has your mum been wanting to invite me?" She wiped her hands down her apron "is it some grand scheme to bring the big names to her manor some of them who helped put her husband in Azkaban?"

Draco looked at her like she had grown a second head "no, nothing like that. In fact she does it every New Year's Eve to anyone who participated in the war." He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and took the spatula and started stirring the dough "what had happened to us wasn't fair."

She looked up at him and started measuring out the chocolate chips "I agree."

His fingers gently touched her hand as he grabbed the first measurement of chocolate chips and dumped them in "we were so young."

Her eyes lingered over his dark mark and resisted the urge to reach out and touch it. Instead she pulled up the sleeves of her striped jumper and ran her fingers gently over the scar on her own arm "we were..."

"What kind of physiopath thinks that children are equipped to fight in a war?" He let his hands fall to the counter with a heavy thunk and Hermione looked down at the counter. He wasn't talking about the time he had left her. She licked her bottom lip and dumped in some more chips before he started to stir again "never tell Potter this but I thank Salazar every day for him beating that deranged fool."

Hermione slipped the apron off and untucked the shirt out of her stretchy black pants "I still have night terrors." She looked up at him and laid the rest of the chips on a baking pan "sometimes they wake up— my neighbors and they always come and check on me. Little do they know that more often than not there's a hole in the wall or a broken mirror."

Draco turned around and leaned on the counter, crossing one ankle on the other, his hands resting behind him on the edge of the tabletop, elbows pointing out behind him. Hermione noticed that his suit today was grey, and his Dragon hide shoes were black. The same black shoes she had stared at when she was getting carved like a pumpkin.

"I get them too." He looked at her "more or less they don't end up in bombarding my walls." He side eyed her and she leaned against the counter as well "They're mostly the sounds of screaming, as if all who were killed in the manor follow me around. Like I did it." He hung his head and Hermione wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her.

"Philip couldn't take my night terrors." He tensed up and she wrapped the other arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. She breathed in smelling the sandalwood she loved so dearly "it was one of the things that drove us apart." She paused for a moment thinking "among other things. He was a great guy but didn't know how to cope with something that wasn't even there." She sighed and closed her eyes "we had a fight about it on one of our first visits to New York. He was afraid I'd kill him in his sleep, I was afraid of other things, it was a tall building and you know how I do with heights" she moved her head up to look at his face, but he had taken to staring at the cabinets in front of him.

They sat in silence for a while, the cookies forgotten in the bowl behind them, raw and half stirred.

"Astoria tried to understand. She was evacuated with the rest of the slytherins during the battle. She couldn't go back to finish her year there, she said she had seen too much damage but she saw the most damaged thing in front of her." His thumb moved up and down her shoulder gently and she wasn't sure if he was comforting her or himself.

"You're not damaged, Draco." She whispered before the oven timer went off causing them to break apart to finish the cookies in silence.

Authors Note: I'd like to mark a spelling error in the previous chapter, instead of peaked it should have been peeked. I noticed that a couple of days ago but wasn't able to get to a computer right away! Thanks to **IGOTTEAMEDWARD** and **CNova** for reviewing. Today my library opens and as a patron I'll be able to access it more frequently and hopefully be able to keep up my 2x a week. Im not sure how long this story is going to be, but I hope you're all here for the long run . As usual, please read and review!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

"Horseback riding?" Hermione looked at him incredulously "It's November, there's absolutely no place in Paris that is open for horseback riding." She stared at him over her salad.

Draco shrugged and took a bite of his leafy greens before looking up at her "that's why we go to Italy. Sardinia to be exact." He took another bite of his salad.

Hermione stabbed at the lettuce in thought. The new restaurant was focused on gourmet salads which piqued her interest and when Draco had asked to take her to lunch _salads, salads, salads!_ Came to mind and he'd been more than willing to try gourmet salad.

"I can't just up and leave." She glanced up at him before looking back down at the sad wilted pile on her plate "I have the shop and I have—"

"So get Emeline to watch them."

She eyed him suspiciously and shrugged "I'll ask her after lunch." She looked back down at her plate and pushed it away from her "how about we go somewhere else? I don't think I can handle this anymore."

Draco put down his fork in relief "I thought you'd never ask."

 _.xx._

Draco sat next to Hermione on the edge of the fountain. Both of them cradling a paper boat in one hand and a fork in the other.

"So they're chips" he looked at them "covered in cheese curds and gravy." One eyebrow shot up as he brought the paper boat closer to him to inspect.

"Mhm!" She took a bite and he watched intently, she had a chip with cheese on top both smothered in gravy as she plopped it into her mouth. "It's French." He raised a suspicious eyebrow and she laughed "okay French Canadian but its good! Maison de la poutine has the best poutine, I swear by it." She stabbed another piece of cheese and a chip and held it up to him "open up"

"You're not going to feed me like a baby, Granger."

"If I don't then you're just going to remember your sad gourmet salad and stay hungry" She wiggled the fork and he leaned in and took the cheesy bite. "So?" She looked at him, her brown eyes wide in excitement.

He chewed thoughtfully as he drank in her appearance. She had crossed a black clad leg over the other, her white shirt flowed in the breeze and he noticed she sat on the end of her light brown sweater although he wasn't sure how warm it was and that her feet must have been freezing in the leopard print flats. Her curls seemed to lay in loose waves and he wondered what kind of spell she used to tame them. It was the calmest he had seen them in a long time.

"its okay" he shrugged and he felt her elbow into his side "okay! okay! It was delicious!" He reached his fork over and dug into her plaid paper boat.

"Oh! Get your own, Malfoy!" She laughed as she attempted to sink her fork into his poutine.

He laughed as he blocked her attempt to reach for his food "yours just tastes better, that's all!"

"How in the world do you know? You haven't tried yours yet and they're the same thing!" She exclaimed a bit exasperated. Her face near his as she reached across him to grab some of his poutine. Her cheeks started to turn a soft pink and her lips had a red tint to them. Draco inhaled before he seized the opportunity and pressed his lips against hers.

They were soft although they were a bit cold and after he had heard her gasp slightly he paused making it a bit awkward until she parted her lips and started to kiss him back. She had tasted sweet like he had remembered, despite the chips and brown gravy and she hadn't thrown up yet which had been marked as a win in his book.

"Draco..." she softly moaned as their mouths collided once more, teeth gently scraping against each other, tongues dancing. It would have been euphoria but the way she said his name could have brought him back to life. He brought his hand up to the side of her neck as he deepened the kiss, his thumb resting gently on her jaw "Draco." She pulled away causing him to open his eyes. Her cheeks that once were dusted with pink were now the color of a rose and her lipstick had been smeared "we're in public."

He let his thumb gently move and she leaned into his hand, eyes closed "thanks for not throwing up."

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco walked Hermione back to her shop, their kiss still tingling on her lips. She had wanted to kiss him from the moment he stepped foot in her bookshop, the way his jeans were dark washed and hung slightly loose at his waist despite the brown belt he wore to hold them up. She particularly enjoyed how his white button up peaked out over the v neck dark grey jumper and how they both stuck out of the thicker dark blue, black and white speckled unbuttoned jumper. When he had moved his sunglasses off his face Hermione knew she was going to kiss him today. Except he had gotten to it first.

She drug her top teeth over her bottom lip and looked over at him as they stopped in front of her door "thanks for lunch. The salad was superb."

He laughed slightly and nodded "braised pork tongue was the highlight of my day, I assure you."

She looked back at the door, Emeline's blond head had bobbled through the stacks and Hermione knew she was looking for the perfect place to spy on them "Thank you though, for a wonderful afternoon. I don't get out that much, even if it's just for lunch."

"You're welcome, Granger."

She stepped into him and stood on her toes and placed a kiss on his lips, her hands resting on the back of his head, playing with his soft hair gently. She pulled away and licked her lips "I'll let you know about Italy?" He nodded and she released him and stepped out of his embrace "see you later, Malfoy."

Hermione slipped in the bookshop and Emeline ambushed her from the left side "you deed not!" She jumped up and down clasping her hands together "I have been waiting for zis!"

Hermione felt the blush that had stared on her neck work its way to her face. She broke away from Emeline and walked over to the counter "it wasn't the first time." She shrugged and took off her jumper before sliding the teal bookshop tee shirt over her other shirt.

Emeline gasped so loud that the few customers that lingered in between the stacks had peeked their heads out to see what had happened. Emeline ignored them and chased after Hermione "vat?! Vhen!?"

"Well" Hermione looked up at the ceiling in mock thought "the first time I threw up on his shoes." She said as she started checking them off on her fingers "then the second time was about thirty minutes ago at the fountain and then again just now." She turned her eyes on Emeline who looked like she was about to burst "it's sudden, but it feels right" she sighed and pulled her hair up into a high pony tail "I never stopped loving him Em."

"Even with Philip? He was so dreamy!"

"And so married." She slipped her shoes off and pulled in a pair of classic low cut converse "and I never loved Philip. He was great with Scorpius but he wasn't what I was looking for in the long term. At that point I figured if Draco had moved on then I could too and I latched on the first man who treated Scorpius like his own." She moved from behind the counter and started straightening up some of the week's best sellers at the front "And now Draco is here and he's available and it's good and— don't look at me like that we haven't slept together!" She felt the blush deepen "not that I haven't thought about it but we're both avoiding topics that need discussed and I can't do that to him or to me."

Emeline shrugged "just eef you do eet in ze bookshop make sure you lock ze door. I don't vant to see vat I saw last time." She shuddered.

"What happened last time was a serious misjudgment and will never happen again." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before looking at her friend "besides that was in the past and I've changed offices since then."

Emeline laughed "sure."

Hermione fluttered about the store for the rest of the day. She talked with the regulars and helped the new customers find what they were looking for. After lunch people had started to filter in and it made Hermione's heart swell to see her bookshop full. The girls worked diligently though out the rest of the afternoon and didn't realize that it had been well after six when they had finally locked their door.

"You can tell eet es getting closer to Christmas" Emeline breathed as she rested her back on the door "eet is nice to be busy again." She pushed herself off the door and followed Hermione into her office.

"I'll have to find someone to watch Scorpius longer if we have to extend our hours." She places the money bag she had been carrying on the top and sat down, Emeline already took post on the opposite side "today was fine because Marcus' mum took Scorpius after school. He wanted to spend the night and I figured after the row we had a couple weeks ago and since it was Friday I figured why not."

"I can ask Baptise if 'e will watch 'im. 'E gets out of classes at three during ze fall and 'e will need all ze practice 'e can get."

Hermione looked up at her friend and brought her hands to her mouth and gasped "you are pregnant!" Emeline nodded and Hermione jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around her friends shoulders "I knew it! I'm so happy for you!"

"We 'ave known for a couple of weeks but we wanted to be sure about eet before we told anyone."

Hermione sat back down on her chair "when is the baby due?"

Emeline laughed slightly and looked down at her lap "Zat is ze thing. They said I'm about 4-6 weeks and zey are expecting them to come around July. We are moving ze wedding up." She bit her lip in excitement.

"When?" Hermione picked up her pen and opened her calendar.

"Christmas Eve!" She yelled and clasped her hands together "we love Christmas and we zink eet es ze best time and we can tell everyone about ze baby then!"

Hermione smiled and nodded "it's perfect for you, Emeline."

"I hope zat you like ze color red."

"Why?" She looked up from the ledger she had started working on.

"Eet es the color of the bridesmaids dresses!" She grinned "I hope you'll be my bridesmaid, yes?"

Hermione brought her hands up to her mouth for the second time that evening and tears pooled in her eyes "yes, of course!" Emeline reaches across the desk and gave Hermione a tight squeeze "where are you going to go on your honeymoon?"

"Italy!" She screamed in Hermione's ear before releasing her "I love Venice the most, 'e said eet was a surprise but eet was definitely Italy!"

"Draco invited me to Italy to go horseback riding." She sat back down and stared counting the money. She heard Emeline gasp "but I can't go, I can't leave Scorpius to go rendezvous with his father in a different country. I feel bad every time I look at Draco."

"Eet is a romantic gesture." She sighed dreamily "but eet es a bit cold around zis time, and I zink zat you should tell him about Scorpius before you go out of ze country with 'Im"

Hermione sighed and nodded in agreement "I agree."

Emeline grinned and sat next to her friend "and besides, ze wedding es only a month away, I need you 'ere wiz me and you're going to need to bring zat hunk of yours wif you to ze Loire Valley!"

Hermione groaned and looked over at Emeline "we're not exclusive you know, casually dating seeing each other for lunches and dinner..." she paused and looked at the tall blond next to her "Wait, you got The Chateau de Challain as your wedding venue?"

"Yes! Eet es still in ze country and you two can share a room for ze night, maybe become exclusive. Eet es a bed and breakfast!" She wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione who laughed slightly.

Hermione smiled and nodded "sounds perfect, Em."

 _ **.xx.**_

"A wedding?" Blaise peered over the rim of his fire whiskey glass "on Christmas Eve. Here? In Loire valley?" He whistled and leaned back in his leather seat "fancy."

Draco took a sip of his fire whiskey and crossed his legs at the ankles "but she won't go to Italy with me for horseback riding on the beach." He scoffed.

Blaise shrugged "Probably because she has no one to watch your son. Potter lives in England and here she is in France all alone." He swirled the contents of his glass before he tilted his head back and drained it "uncle Blaise would do it but I'm going to be indisposed."

"Uncle Blaise?" Draco cocked an eyebrow holding back his laughter. He could hardly imagine Blaise letting a young Scorpius crawl all over him like a play yard. He sighed sadly. He had missed those days, he often wondered what it would have been like to have carried Scorpius on his shoulders, or to have tickle fights and a full English breakfast on Sundays like he used to with his father.

"Obviously. I'll teach him all the things dad can't like how to put down the chocolate when learning there's a troll in the dungeon, how not to get caught sneaking around watching your future baby mama to make sure she doesn't get in terrible trouble, how catch the snitch without falling on your arse, how to not piss off the girl you liked by calling her a slur" he ticked one by one off his finger before raising his eyes from his fingers to Draco "should I go on?"

Draco rolled his eyes and put a knuckle to his lips in deep thought "was it that obvious?"

A loud laugh came from somewhere inside Blaise "it was just about as obvious as it was that Hagrid never should have been made a teacher. You don't hide secrets that well, Draco." He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees, his empty glass held by his long fingers in between them "anyway, you never asked why I'm going to be indisposed."

Draco knocked back the rest of his drink and set it gently on the end table next to him, scrunching his nose as the hot liquid spread throughout his chest "Humour me, why are you going to be indisposed?"

"I have a date." He levitated the fire whiskey over from the bar cart and poured himself half a glass "ask me with who."

He wasn't sure if he had seen his own brain with as hard as his eye roll was but Draco decided to amuse his friend anyway, it wasn't like he had many to amuse "Who? The troll in the dungeon?"

Blaise laughed again, obviously loosened by the liquor but Draco didn't mind one bit, it had been lonely in the chateaux and he was sure that he'd much rather prefer a home like Hermione's flat. It had been small but it held a lot of life and love seemed to seep through the walls through photographs and pencil marks of recorded growth.

"Earth to Draco!" Blaise waved a hand in front of his eyes "did you hear anything I said? I said, Luna Lovegood."

"How?" He asked incredulously.

He shrugged "she wandered into my office talking about my office being a breeding ground for wrackspurts and said that's probably why my reports have been— how did she say it? Oh yeah! — Unfocused." He shrugged before drinking the rest of the amber liquid "I think.." he pointed at Draco "I think I might take your idea an Italian horseback ride" he wiggled his eyebrows and laughed "if you catch my drift."

"You're welcome." He muttered slinking down into his seat, his mind unfavorably on Blaise and Loony doing all the fun things he had planned that he wasn't going to get to do.

Blaise flooed home somewhere around midnight and Draco couldn't have been more relieved. If he wasn't going to be able to have the romantic Italian horseback riding experience that he wanted her to have he'd have to create something new, something exciting. He slipped into his office chair and turned on his computer and after thirty minutes of searching he found it. He grinned and tapped a few buttons before picking up his mobile.

 **To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 12:45am  
are you free tomorrow?**

 **To: Draco Malfoy  
Time: 12:47am  
yes, why?**

 **To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 12:50am  
I'm taking you somewhere. 6pm. Dress nice. **

**Authors Note:** Thanks to Nanny922, IGOTTEAMEDWARD, Black Banshee and two guests for your reviews! I hope you all enjoyed! Please read and review


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Her world had went black about a half hour ago and she had begun to get flustered "where are you taking me?" Hermione stopped walking placing her hands on her hips "and whose bright idea was it to blindfold me magically?" She brought one hand to her eyes trying to get the piece of fabric away from her face "seriously Malfoy, people are going to think you kidnapped me."

He chuckled slightly, so close to her that she felt his breath tickle her neck. "The way we're dressed I highly doubt that they think I'm kidnapping you."

She stomped her foot down on the pavement and crossed her arms "you told me to dress nice, not like I was going to get kidnapped and held against my will."

Emeline had lent her a beautiful champagne colored dress that went down to her knees. The top was a gentle v neck with sheer sleeves that went down to her wrists. Delicate lace appliqués decorated the sleeves and the bodice of the dress while a sheet skirt cascaded over the slightly smaller skirt underneath, adored with the same design. Hermione had tried it on and with a bit of magical adjustment it fit her like a glove. A small single diamond sat in between her collar bones, a memento of her mother, and adorned on her feet were a pair of nude heels.

When she had opened the door she had found Draco standing there in a navy blue suit, a white button up, red and navy tie with a champagne opera scarf. She had wanted to laugh at the scarf but now that it had been sitting around her neck and her coat she was thankful for it.

"We're almost there" he rested his hand on her lower back and guided her along the pathway.

"The other night when you had told me you were taking me some where I didn't think we'd have to walk there."

He laughed "it would have spoiled the surprise."

She huffed slightly and turned her head toward the direction of Draco's voice "we could have taken the tube."

"Doesn't matter, were here."

Her vision came back as the blindfold was removed from her face. An audible gasp slipped past her lips and she brought one hand to her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Draco..." her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the large ornate building in front of her. Its green dome sparkled in the waning sunlight, the golden angels on the corners seemed to shine on their own. "The Palais Garnier!" She looked over at him and back toward the building with its elaborate windows and carved decorations.

He rocked back on his heels and offered his arm "but that's not until later, La Boheme—"

Hermione gasped and looked at him "La Boheme?! That's my—-"

"—-favorite opera, I know." He laughed and as she took his arm he started walking off in a different direction "I remember you screeching it at the top of your lungs."

She laughed softly "I still do. Drives everyone insane." She wrapped her arm around his waist as they walked away from the Opera house and toward a restaurant "Petrossian?" She glanced up at him before resting her head on his shoulder "that's not open yet, it's only five and they open at seven, we're going to have to choose another place to eat."

Draco sighed and opened the door for her "it pays to have connections, Granger."

She peeled herself away from him and waltzed through the door "you don't have to pull out all the stops to impress me, Mr. Malfoy." She looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a half smile before walking into the restaurant.

"Mr. Malfoy is my father!" He called after her, causing a chuckle to erupt from her chest. They were quickly escorted to their table and Hermione swore that the caviar had been brought over by the buckets.

"I've never tried caviar." She eyed it suspiciously as Draco spread a bit on what looked to be a cracker and put a small dollop of what looked like to be softly whipped fresh cream.

"Here" he held the caviar out to her and she took a bite, screwing up her face in disgust causing a hearty laugh escape from Draco's throat. She loved those laughs the most "well, it's not for everyone."

She quickly chewed her bite and nodded "definitely not." She scrunched up her nose as she watched him finish the cracker she had "a bit salty isn't it? And gritty? And fishy!"

He chuckled and loaded another piece "blini, caviar and soft cream is the best, Granger. Sorry your rich tastes end at me." He shrugged and popped the concoction in his mouth making Hermione want to gag.

"The opera is a rich taste. And the theatre and—" He opened his mouth and she raised a finger "don't tell me that you're descended from William Shakespeare again Draco Malfoy, he was not a pure blooded wizard."

Draco shrugged "remind me to show you my family tree then."

"You keep an extensive family tree?" She laughed "wouldn't it be hard to keep track of everyone throughout the generations? And if someone wanted to add someone in, it would be easy! I could write down that I'm descended from the queen of England."

Draco took a sip of his water and shook his head "it's an enchanted tapestry, Granger. It's been in the manor since it was built, my mother has a tapestry in her childhood home and potter has one in Grimwauld place. It adds death dates, names of brides or grooms, anniversary dates, names of children and of course birth dates."

The blood in Hermione's veins turned cold "how does it know...?"

"It's enchanted with old magic, I haven't the foggiest how it works. I haven't looked at it in years and I doubt my mother has either. We don't keep family tapestries in vacation homes."

Hermione visibly relaxed but inside she remained anxious. Scorpius had to be on that tapestry and if Narcissa Malfoy had looked at it any time before her husband's death— Hermione slowly exhaled, she couldn't have seen his name on that bloody tapestry. If she had, Hermione was sure that she would have broken down her door demanding answers of why she was trying to destroy Draco's marriage. She had never formally met Narcissa, but the Narcissa in her head was cold and cruel and would have taken Scorpius the moment she learned of him and she reveled in the fact that she didn't do any of those things so she was still in the clear.

"Walburga Black absolutely loved my time in Grimwauld place, I can only imagine how she'd feel if you fell in love with a muggle born or a half blood and put them up on the tapestry, assuming that the black and the Malfoy tapestries are somehow linked through marriage." She took a bite of the filet mignon that had been placed in front of her. She didn't order this. In fact she didn't order anything and a smile came to her lips as she realized Draco must have done it himself before he came.

"Well, my grandmother was a terrible woman. She only raised two daughters to be completely competent and that's saying something because my great grandmother Walburga was about as pleasant as a cactus."

Hermione nodded "I had an Aunt who was like that. Aunt Beatrice raised four boys. Three of them filtered in and out of prison. My cousin Drew was the only one who made anything of himself. Took after my parents and became a dentist. They don't remember me or my parents though." She shrugged slightly and took a bite of her potatoes. "Go on."

She watched as Draco tucked into his salmon before dabbing at the corners of his mouth with his napkin "I feel as if whomever I fell in love with and whomever ends up on that tapestry shouldn't matter. I'm not there to please them anymore. I almost ruined something that is been important to me because of the ideals that I had been raised on."

She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him "does this have anything to do with a cryptic text about fancying me since first year?" She smiled as a faint pink colour tinted his cheeks "me too."

"What?"

"I liked you since we met on the train. You were really kind and smart and I thought we'd be really great friends. I didn't have a lot of friends before so I was excited to have made one so easily." She swallowed thickly and looked down at her plate "then you said all those mean things in second year and enlarged my teeth in fourth."

"I'm sorry I—"

She held up a hand and looked up at him "I thought for a long time that you hated me and that you wanted me dead. How could you not when you had specifically said so when the basilisk was in the school? I was so furious when we got paired together in charms, Harry and Ron didn't hear the end of it for weeks." She inhaled and closed her eyes "it brought back memories of you on the train, and when you said those things and how I cried at night for someone who had been so nice but turned out so mean, but the longer we stayed partners in charms the more I got to see the boy I met on the train." She smiled a bit "and at some point I fell in love with the amazing bouncing ferret and way before I did that, I had forgave you, because why live a life filled with hate when you can live one filled with love?"

He sighed and grabbed her hand from across the table running his thumb gently on the top of her hand "I'm sorry. I know it's not enough but I am." He gave her a gentle squeeze "when you grow up with Lucius you don't get much of an insight of things. I was taught that muggle borns were lesser than and that they were the scum of the earth. How was I to know that the first person I met on the train was a muggle born?" She watched as his eyes drifted down to the table "when I found out I had been so angry, angry at the fact that the one person who didn't know who I was, the red in my family's ledger, was someone I was taught to believe was worse than the dirt underneath my shoe. You were fantastic and smart and I loved the way your hair seemed to frizz just a little bit more when you talked about the subjects you knew you'd enjoy. You were so headstrong and I never met anyone like you before. I wrote home to my family about you, my mum was thrilled that I had found a friend outside Crabbe and Goyle my father not so much. The summer before second year I heard my father talking about a monster being released in the school, how it happened before he had went to school and how it was a muggle born that died..." he sighed causing his shoulders to slump "when it happened again, when I had said I wished it was you, I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. I was repeating things I heard at home, and it's no excuse..."

Hermione stood up and brought her chair next to his and rested her head on his shoulder "no, but you learned from your mistakes and that's all that matters." She mumbled and snaked her arms around his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"I never meant to hurt you." He sighed as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"It has all been forgiven." She pulled an arm away from his waist and rested her hand on the top of his thigh. "So..." she moved her head and looked at him "first year on the train or after the troll in the dungeon?"

He scoffed "train, I loved how you lit up when you spoke and when I heard how you and the witless duo took on a fully grown mountain troll I wanted to walk up to you and kiss you right there."

Hermione scrunched her nose and laughed "you were eleven, Draco. You shouldn't have been kissing anyone."

He laughed slightly and shrugged "what about you?"

"I told you," she stood up and slid her plates to their side "the train."

 _ **.xx.**_

"Oh Draco!" Hermione wrapped her arm around his as they descended the stairs "La Boheme was a dream to see on the state." She melted into his side "when Mimi died, oh." She placed a hand to her heart and closed her eyes.

He chuckled slightly, it was low and deep and it vibrated Hermione's inner core, she loved when he laughed. It had once seemed rare but everything amused him, it just took getting past his stony walls to see.

"You were blubbering. You're so lucky I'm such a fabulous date and a wonderful gentleman that I happened to have a handkerchief or two."

She nudged him slightly and laughed "I saw you conjuring up handkerchiefs left and right. Thank you."

"You're welcome" He smiled at her and she felt her heart melt into a puddle, it was the smile to end all smiles. His teeth were impeccable and white and her parents had been proud of her choice of a boyfriend based on his teeth alone although they were upset it had been her childhood bully. With a lot of convincing that Draco had changed, her parents had begrudgingly changed their minds. She stopped walking and he followed suit looking at her quizzically. Her boyfriend.

"What are we, Draco?"

He looked at her, confusion still etched on his face "what do you mean?"

"Us" She took a finger and pointed it in between the two of them "what are we?"

Realization dawned on his face and he walked back toward her grabbing both of her hands "What do you want us to be?"

She looked down at his large hands that were calloused and a bit rough, Hermione suspected from quidditch, she couldn't imagine being a lawyer would entice callouses. "A couple." She closed her eyes as she felt the blush creep up from her neck.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" His voice was laced with amusement.

"Yes. Sounds a bit silly to say it. We're twenty eight you'd think that there was some better term for—-" she felt his lips crash down on hers and she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and melting into the moment that ended way too soon for her.

"I think we can do that."

Hermione smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss him again he tasted like chocolate and the peppermint he had asked for half way through La Boheme. Her hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck idly as their breaths intertwined and their lips battled it out.

"prenez une chambre!"

Hermione laughed as she broke apart from Draco pressing her forehead into his chest to hide the blush of their very public snog in the opera district. For the life of her she couldn't figure out how all their snogging sessions took place in public.

"Get a room?" Draco laughed, and wrapped his arms around Hermione, his hands playing with the strands of her simple up do "we can take this back to my place?"

Hermione panicked "I don't think we should it's not the right time for—"

He chuckled again "no not for that. We proved that we could without—-"

"—but I was Ill and it had been years since—"

"—I can live without it. I'd like to show you the vineyards and—"

"—and you let me throw up on your shoes. You just stood there like a champ and you still stayed the night—"

"-the potions room is to die for. You'd love it. I've made more ink—"

"—did you get sick at all? Oh. And you ran the bookshop all ill—"

"Granger" Draco cupped her face in-between his palms gently "What I'm trying to say is that there are loads of things at the chateaux we can do besides that thing. And you're right, it's too early." He let his hands play with the loose hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her in for a gentle kiss "there are vineyards and a giant lavender, there's a potions set up in the cellar, and the library, you have to see the library."

Hermione inhaled and nodded "the lavender should be gone by now. The best time to see the lavender would be July, this is November." She looked up at him through long lashes and smiled slightly "although the library does sound enticing. And a potions lab you say?" She placed her hands on his waist "if you own a winery you know you're obligated to give your brand new girlfriend a glass. It's tradition."

He moved his hands away from her face and rested his forearms on her shoulders. Hermione assumed their position looked awkward from those passing by muttering under their breath the names of close by hotels or that this was a street and not a bedroom. But she didn't care. She couldn't have been happier than she was right now. A wonderful meal had been shared with a side dish full of conversation that Hermione was positive could have taken a turn for the worst but didn't. The opera had been wonderful and made a mental note to herself to get Scorpius whatever he wanted for wanting to stay with Marcus until Sunday and decided to get his mum a wonderful bouquet of flowers and the book she had been eyeing at her store for quite some time. She was very appreciative.

"I wouldn't call you a brand new girlfriend" He shrugged and started to walk back toward the opera house "mostly just paused." He stopped and looked at her, sadness seemed to pool in his eyes and she wondered if his thoughts were on Astoria but before she could ask he plastered a small smirk to his face and kissed her passionately, erupting soft mews from her "let's go."

 **Authors note:** So sorry it's been so long since I updated. Since the holidays are coming up work has become more hectic (I just completed a 9 day stint recently) and then I ended up getting sick. Since the holidays are coming up I'm going to try to update at least once a week instead of twice a week like I did for a bit there and since I've been so busy I've been unable to write so it'll let me catch up on chapters that way too. I had one whole chapter written about their time in Hogwarts but I figured it would be suited better to a different story, maybe one that ties into this one (using flashbacks here as actual storyline there, we'll see). I'm so so thankful for all of you who have reviewed **Black Banshee** , **CNova** , **IGOTTEAMEDWARD** & **Nanny922** I hope you all continue to enjoy and (hopefully) see you next week!


	21. Chapter Twenty

Draco rolled over and groaned slightly as the sunlight infiltrated his eyes. It was too damn bright in this room, he hated it and decided that he needed to get curtains as his eyes fluttered open landing on the beautiful brunette in his bed.

She was laying on her stomach, one leg gently bent with her arms tucked under her head, her cheek pressed against her forearm with her lightly freckled nose resting by the crook of her arm. Her hair seemed to have a life of its own as her once sleek curls danced around each other trying to see which one could stand higher than the other. She was clad in his old seeker tee shirt and he had to admit that she looked good in green and silver with his name across her back. He swallowed his naughty thoughts when he remembered that she, in a half drunken stupor, refused to put on pants.

He sat up and stretched hoping that his thoughts drifted elsewhere. Which they did, for a moment. As he scratched at a spot on his bare chest he thought of breakfast; of fresh fruit crepes with freshly whipped cream and how that freshly whipped cream would taste even better on the soft mounds of Hermione's breasts. He closed his eyes and shook his head, while her creamy skin was soft to the touch and had touched him many times that night leaving scorch marks where she had met his porcelain tones. She was so peachy and full of life where he felt pale and often times dead. But here she was, sleeping next to him and here he was thinking about sitting her up on the kitchen counter and shagging her until they both couldn't move.

His morning priorities needed sorted.

He shook his head and slowly stood up from the bed. Maybe he'd go downstairs and make those crepes for breakfast but as he turned around and her sleeping form turned on her side he shook his head for a second time before deciding a cold shower was in order. Then crepes.

 _.xx._

The gentle hum of magic tickled Draco's skin as soon as he stepped out of the shower. He hadn't felt the magic around him in a long time, not even when Astoria had danced through the halls at the manor. He thought it was funny really, how he could feel her magic, as if he was yearning to be used like it had been kept like a book on a shelf for too long. She belonged in the magical world, where her hair frizzed just a bit more and she became more alive than he had seen her in months. Magic belonged with her and she belonged with magic.

He ran his towel over his hair tousling the blond locks until they were slightly damp. His hair un-styled laid flat over his eyes and tickled the tops of his ears and was very reminiscent of his Hogwarts days. He looked at himself in the mirror and let out a small chuckle as he remembered Hermione constantly moving it out of his eyes complaining about him breaking his neck if he kept doing that jerking motion to keep his hair out of his eyes. He had once given himself a neck strain when looking over a potions book doing a particular jerking motion, not that he'd ever tell her of course.

After quickly brushing his teeth, Draco slipped into his favourite grey sweat pants and dried his hair with his wand. He had no place to be today except the kitchen making crepes so he decided he'd give his arms a break and let his hair hang loose, besides he wanted to see if Hermione's thoughts had changed about the longer tresses he normally kept in a small pompadour.

He walked out of the bathroom and stopped just at the top of the stairs, his breath catching in his throat. Although she was asleep, she had been the most beautiful woman he had laid his eyes on.

She moved slightly causing the blanket to shift down slightly exposing her hip and a strip of purple. All the good his shower did him was quickly washed away as his pants became slightly tighter and his visions of morning sex in the kitchen returned. Oh dear he was in trouble...

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione snuggled down into the plush bed and her eyes popped open. This wasn't her bed, this wasn't her room "am I in slytherin colours?" She whispered to herself as she stretched her arms above her head, a soft mewling sound escaped her lips. It had been a dreamy bed and she felt like she had been sleeping on a cloud. Her eyes scanned the room that she had barely remembered from the night before.

Exposed brick was off to her right, four stairs ascended to another room that Hermione was curious to explore. In front of her in the large four poster bed sat a large ornate couch the same color as the curtain. A beautiful cream and gold colored fireplace took up the other end of the room with a fire roared to life the moment she set eyes on it.

A smile appeared on her face, it was a wonderful home full of magic that seemed to vibrate around her, the current flowing through her veins and making her hair frizz. She missed being surrounded by magic, the way it had made her feel and how she felt while doing it. She inhaled through her nose and stretched one more time before sitting up in the bed and almost immediately she regretted all her life decisions that led her up to her hangover headache. She groaned and stepped on the cold stone floor and stood up, stretching once more letting her back crack

"Am I not wearing pants?" She muttered as she lowered her arms. The shirt hit her mid-thigh and the sleeves came just to her elbows, it was a shirt she had worn many times even if she didn't notice what shirt t had been at first. She padded her way toward the set of stairs and noticed the dark grey curtains on either side of the staircase she had the urge to reach out and touch them but a beautiful large soaking tub had caught her attention. The bathroom was grey and white. A large Japanese soaking tub sat in the back near a large window. In one corner of the room a shower stood but instead of shower doors it had two low walls with the large grey tiles moving up its sides. The shower head hung from the ceiling and was large enough Hermione figured it would hold two comfortably. The toilet sat off to the side in a smaller separate room while two sinks finished the main part of the bathroom. She would have given her wand tip for a bath that large. Of course it would have been torture to have bathed Scorpius when he was younger. She smiled at the thought of her son and briefly wondered if he was having a great time with Marcus before her bladder decided to direct her attention elsewhere.

She slid out of the bedroom sometime later, her feet padding gently on the stone floor. The floor was warm to the touch despite it being November. Magic never failed to amaze her even after all this time. She turned down a hallway and frowned slightly, she couldn't remember how they had come up this way, all she knew was that there were a lot of stairs and her head was still pounding.

The smell of bacon caught her attention causing her stomach to rumble, when was the last time she had eaten? She and Draco had shared a bag of crisps sometime over night and she was confused for a second, where had his house elves been? She couldn't remember seeing any and she knew that the elves in the manor had went with Narcissa in Italy where they were paid. Did Draco have any?

She stopped in her tracks as she entered the kitchen. Draco stood there shirtless with his back toward her, his back muscles rippled as he expertly moved what looked like batter around the pan. His grey sweatpants sat low on his hips his muscles flexing as he side stepped to a different spot in front of the stove. He slung a tea towel over his left shoulder and Hermione coughed slightly in surprise of how effortlessly sexy it had been. How would it have been to have seen him sling a burping cloth over his shoulder? Hermione was sure Scorpius would have a lot more siblings.

Her breath hitched as he looked over his shoulder "hey, you."

She breathed as she stood there in the door frame pantsless and ready for anything that involved being perched on the counter top. Oh dear, she was in big trouble.

 **Authors note:** this entire time I've imagined Brendon Urie (because I'm obsessed with him) as Draco but obviously blond, Lilly James as Hermione and a much younger Anthony Boyle as Scorpius (because I love him). Imagine them how you'd like! Also I didn't want this to be a long chapter and I didn't want it to have a lot of dialogue. I wanted them to be alone with themselves but also together and how some of their thoughts intertwined with one another's even without knowing it. Please review :)


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

The crepes were disgusting.

He wasn't sure what had went wrong but now they were sitting in a small cafe just outside of town. Hermione had apparated home and returned a few minutes later with her curls pulled back in a low pony tail, a pink grey and blue striped sweater with a pair of what he had learned to be skinny jeans and a pair of black converse. A dark grey scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck and she wore a pair of tear drop pearl earrings, the ones he gave her so long ago. He had changed into dark brown pants, a denim button up and had slipped a maroon sweater over top. Brown leather boots kept his feet warm in the chilly fall air.

Le Petite Atelier was cozy and close to home and he and Hermione sat in comfortable silence as they ate crepes that were actually good.

"My friend's wedding is happening up here in the Loire valley, I told you where it was, Right?" She took a bite of her crepe and Draco leaned over and kissed her gently.

"You had a bit of mascarpone right here." He touched her bottom lip and she smiled slightly, a blush creeping up her neck.

She flicked her tongue over her bottom lip and he watched the blush creep up to her cheeks "it's at a lovely bed and breakfast, she rented out the entire place, rooms included. If I had known you lived close by..."

"The castle just up the road?" He pointed his fork over his shoulder and Hermione nodded "I've always wanted to go in but it's always been closed."

He watched as Hermione beamed "the incomparable Draco Malfoy couldn't talk his way into a castle?"

He shrugged one shoulder and took a bite of his crepes "I've had the invites I just haven't had the time." He took a thoughtful bite, thinking about the years he spent looking for her. He could hardly believe that she was in front of him. She was a real person; living, breathing, laughing, holding secrets but she was not the sound in the manor, the bodiless screams that he heard at night. She had slept next to him, her body warm and her breath soft from sleep. She was not the cold wind that seemed to shift through the manor knocking on the windows. She was here and despite her secrets he was incredibly happy.

 _.xx._

"You didn't get much of a tour last night." He placed his keys down on the marble kitchen island and leaned against it looking at her "once I brought out the Malfoy apothecary wine you went to town" he chuckled as he watched the blush creep up her neck.

"You didn't tell me it was aged a thousand years. I didn't even drink the whole bottle."

He quirked an eyebrow up at her "Love, you had two. After the first one you insisted on a second and tried to accio one from the cellar. After a while you started talking about how daft everyone was when they didn't take House elf rights seriously and how quidditch was death on brooms. I brought you up to the bedroom and you insisted on wearing a tee shirt and when I kept offering sweat pants you refused" he shrugged and watched as the blush crept further up her neck.

"I'm... speechless. I can't believe I had two."

After a minute of complete silence he felt tiny hands slapping at his arm. He moved away quickly and held his left arm with his right hand.

"What in Merlin's beard made you think that I needed two Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

"Ouch!" He rubbed his arm "you got mean when I refused and I figured I'd get it from the cellar myself rather than you attempt and break your neck. Could you imagine the scandal?"

She seemed to soften a bit and leaned on the counter "I apologize, for being rude last night and nothing else." She eyed him "okay, for everything I did that you didn't deserve." She nudged him with her hip "so is this where the tour starts?"

He looked confused for a second as he rubbed his arm that still stung from her tiny assault. "I showed you the lavender fields and the vineyards last night before you decided to get drunk..."

Hermione nodded "I can't believe that the lavender is still growing strong! The magic on those must be unbelievable. I'd love to learn it because I can barely keep a plant alive."

"I couldn't tell you. The seeds were enchanted a long time ago, these are the original plants. Growing lavender since 1887."

"So the kitchen huh?" She looked around and he once again felt a twitch in his pants as he once again imagined shagging her senseless on the counter top she now ran her long fingers over.

He might need another cold shower before this was over but for now he'd try not to imagine the naughty things he'd do to her over every centimeter of this chateaux.

"The kitchen!" He exclaimed opening his arms broadly "where many generations of Malfoy men didn't step foot in because House elves did all the cooking." Her eyes narrowed and he shrugged. She couldn't scold him on this because he currently didn't have any.

It wasn't a spectacular kitchen by any means. It was large enough to have an island in the middle with barstools on one side with a stainless steel sink on the other. The marble countertops had ribbons of silver throughout, accenting the stainless steel appliances— the double ovens, the refrigerator and the second sink. White cabinets with large windows held dishes and his favorite tea cups.

"And in here we have the ballroom..." he walked out of the kitchen and slipped through a door entering a large room. He watched Hermione's face light up as she entered the room.

"Remember the Yule ball?" She looked at him over her shoulder and he felt his pants tighten just a bit "I really had a good time with you that night. I remember leaving the hallway after getting my shoes and remembering the sweet boy on the train and wishing I had gone to the ball with you." She twirled around and he smiled "viktor caught up with me before I got to the common room and he kissed me goodnight." She laughed as she closed her eyes dancing to an invisible beat "I was so disappointed that my first kiss was Bulgarian bon bon viktor Krum and not Hogwarts Amazing bouncing ferret."

He slipped into her arms and twirled around the dance floor with her. He flicked his wand and the music from that night at the Yule ball danced around them. The red and gold floor beneath their feet seemed to guide them into where they were going. Creme pillars with golden angels hid in the corners holding back the scarlet curtains. Windows stood from floor to ceiling but it seemed that all the ornate decorations from the painted replica of the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling to the golden sconces had been ignored for nothing was a more beautiful sight than the woman in front of him.

"So don't let, this magic die" Draco sang along

"Oh." Hermione buried her face in his chest "this was the song that played during the Yule ball." She looked back up at him and chewed on her lip.

"You remembered"

She scoffed a bit and wrapped her arms around his neck, one hand casually playing with his hair "I'm a girl, of course I remember, Draco." She rested her head on his chest and he closed his eyes, he could stay this way forever "besides, I'm surprised you would even remember it."

It was his turn to scoff "of course I do. It was the first time I was able to hold you without fear of you cursing me into oblivion."

She laughed into his chest "if you got cursed you deserved it. But I don't think I ever thanked you for that dance. You changed my whole life with that." She looked up at him and he took the moment and captured her lips. She closed her eyes and he brought his hand up to her head, tangling his fingers in her curls his other hand rested on her back. She unwrapped her arms from where they now rested on his shoulders and moved them around on his back. He was quite surprised when she slipped a hand in his pocket and gave his bum a little squeeze.

Their breaths danced and their teeth clashed and before long the song had ended and much to Draco's disappointment, she pulled away wiping at her lips.

"So the ballroom is nice" she sucked in her bottom lip and Draco wanted nothing more than to scoop her back up in his arms. She was slightly out of breath and her lips were slightly swollen. Her cheeks were tinted pink and her hair seemed to have grown with size.

"Uh yeah. Shall we continue?" She nodded and Draco escorted her out, lacing his fingers with hers. He caught himself in one of the antique mirrors. His lips were swollen and where pink tinted her cheeks, his seemed to have been coloured bright red. He had regained his breath earlier and the only thing that remained put together had been his hair. He almost laughed at himself in the mirror as he glanced back to look at his bum, where she had surprised him.

He took her to the drawing room next which held two fireplaces at the end of the rooms and numerous leather chairs. The walls were a green colour and Hermione had scrunched her nose with how they clashed with the gold that had been in this room as well.

Draco guided her through eleven bedrooms each decorated more lavishly than the last, the indoor pool with a sauna and the wine cellar. He decided he'd save the best for last as he walked up to a pair of closed doors

"Okay, close your eyes."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously before she closed her eyes and clasped her hands behind her back. He watched as he made funny faces in her direction and when she did laugh or scold him he was satisfied and opened the doors.

Draco stepped through the large heavy doors and looked back at Hermione who had closed her eyes. This was his favorite part of the entire chateaux and he knew it was going to be her favorite too. The library was six stories tall and had taken up most of the back. On the wall opposite of the doors they were just walking through was a set of delicate French doors, white and made mostly of glass. Off to his left a divot in the wall signaled another room and light shone from inside. Bookshelves soared all the way to the ceiling where it domed and let light flood the floor they stood on. Large overstuffed chairs in shades of dark brown and Crème were scattered strategically about, some came with ottomans and some were placed in front of low sitting dark wooden tables. In front of the fireplace sat a long overstuffed brown couch and two chairs at the ends. A long low table sat between the chairs and in front of the couch while end tables sat in between the arms of the couch and chairs.

He remembered being here on summer vacation, his father sat in the chair at the end of the couch, the one closest to the door with a brandy in his hand. His mother sat on the opposite chair with her knitting needles going a kilometer a minute. He often sat on the couch curled up with a book. Sometimes Crabbe and Goyle would come and they'd fly their broomsticks to the very top of the library, which had earned him a scolding or two from his parents.

He turned back to Hermione and smiled slightly. The freckles on her nose seemed to dance in the mid-morning sun and all he wanted to do was reach out and touch her, to hold her and to kiss her but he didn't want to spoil the surprise.

"Okay," He let go of the door handles and grabbed her hands leading her deeper into the room.

"If I keep my eyes closed any longer Draco I'm going to fall asleep." She huffed slightly and her hair seemed to drizzle a bit.

He let out a throaty chuckle and let go of her hands "okay, open them!"

He watched as she opened her eyes and almost instantly brought her hands to her mouth. A loud gasp came from between her fingers and her eyes grew as big as saucers. If he looked closely he was positive that he could see tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh Draco" she looked back at him and he placed his hands behind his back grinning sheepishly. She walked over to him and placed a gentle kiss upon his lips before she hurried off to a section of the library "this is just like beauty and the beast!" She ran her fingers delicately over the spines.

"Beauty and the what?"

"Beauty and the beast" She smiled to herself "it's about a girl named belle who is too progressive for her small minded town." She reached up and grabbed a book from a shelf higher "her father gets lost on the way to an inventors fair and gets attacked by wolves so he runs inside the gates of a castle where there lives a hideous beast who enslaves him. Belle finds him and trades her freedom for her fathers. Eventually the beast treats her with kindness and compassion and" she bit the bottom of her lip reaching for something. Draco slid by her and grabbed it off the shelf "He gifts her a wondrous library" she looked around and smiled "it's a fantastic Disney movie, although it plays different from the original story."

"Well I hope you don't think I'm gifting this to you." He said facetiously as he stood next to her and crossed his arms loosely at his chest. He'd give her the world if it made her happy.

She smiled slightly and gently elbowed him and he feigned injury "I wouldn't want it anyway. It doesn't have a grand staircase."

 _ **.xx.**_

Hermione slipped into her apartment behind Scorpius who was too busy playing on his Nintendo DS. He slid his nap sack down by the door and slouched his way into his room before shutting the door. She glanced down the hallway and sighed slightly before she sat down on the couch. Yesterday had been a dream and the stroll around the grounds after breakfast was perfect. She glanced at the hallway and bit at her bottom lip, Scorpius had been quiet about the topic of his father and she felt guilty about seeing Draco practically behind her sons back yet still kept Scorpius from Draco. She hung her head and closed her eyes, she was a terrible person.

 **Authors note:** surprise! Two chapters in one day as a thanks for reading and as for a thanksgiving treat! Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans! First we stuff our faces with delicious turkey and mashed potato and gravy volcanos THEN WE DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS. But seriously, enjoy your family, your friends, your life and be thankful for what you want to be thankful for. I'm thankful for all of you 3 Next Chapter is going to be a considerable time jump to Emeline's wedding, I didn't expect to upload two chapters today and I'm honestly still writing the wedding (it's been a couple weeks, ope.) See you next week, hopefully!


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

Hermione fumbled with the zipper of the red dress, her hands shook slightly. She had never been a bridesmaid before and after the war she preferred not to be in the spotlight, which was one of the driving forces behind moving to Paris. The main one had been at his Uncle Harry's for a week and refused to come home until well after the New Year. Things had gotten better with Scorpius over the last couple of weeks, he stopped bringing up his father and she only saw Draco during the times he'd visit the shop or when Scorpius insisted on staying with Marcus for the weekend. She always felt terrible for sneaking behind both of their backs but had ultimately decided that after the New Year she was going to sit down and tell him, at least that's what she had told herself.

"If things with Draco are going to get serious again you can't keep it from him" she muttered to herself as she pulled at the zipper a knock came at the door and she jumped "one second!" She slipped a bathrobe over the dress and let her bare feet carry her over to the door. She exhaled deeply and turned the handle, pulling the door open.

Draco stood there in a pair of black suit pants, a white jacket with a white button up and a black bow tie. It was simple but it took her breath away.

"Those aren't dragon hide" She looked down at his shoes before she stood on her tippy toes placing a small kiss on his lips.

"Yeah well someone threw up on them a couple months ago and they still smell bad" he bent his head down and kissed her back.

"But you've worn them since then?" She padded away from him and sat on the edge of the large bed slipping on the matte black heels.

"Have I?" He walked into the room and shut the door putting down a knapsack Hermione didn't see in his hands before "I have multiple pairs, it's just the ones you threw up on were my favorites." He shrugged "I assure you, I haven't worn them."

She peeked down at his shiny shoes and turned away toward the window quickly, memories flooding back to her causing the scar on her arm to tingle "I actually have a question" she muttered "could you zip me up?"

"Of course" he nodded and stood behind her "i don't understand why you girls aren't getting ready together."

She untied the bathrobe and looked over her shoulder at him "because Emeline wanted a show stopping moment. She wanted none of us to see her and I figured I could magic up my hair easier this way." She pointed to the elaborate up-do.

"And you didn't think of magiking your dress?"

She exhaled through her nose and rolled her eyes "I was getting to that but you conveniently knocked on the door." She dropped the robe and revealed a off the shoulder cherry red dress. The full circle skirt landed just below her knees. It was simple in design with pleats at the waist conveniently hiding pockets.

"Hermione you..."

"...look like a giant tomato?" She laughed

She felt the zipper tug upwards and Draco step closer to her "look stunning." He whispered in her ear, his lips pressing against her neck, following the line down to her shoulders and back up again, where she tilted her head to give him access.

A knock on the door brought her back to a disappointing reality "Hermione? We have ten minutes, we'll be in the entry hall waiting."

Hermione licked her lips and turned around to face Draco "I'll see you down there then?"

He gently kissed her and pulled back "wouldn't miss it for the world."

Five minutes after Draco left the room Hermione checked herself once in the mirror and made her way downstairs to where the other three ladies were waiting. Two of them dressed in silver causing Hermione to appreciate the fact that she looked like a tomato instead of a giant disco ball. The wedding planner handed each of them an alternating bouquet of flowers. Hermione held white with silver swirly accents while the disco balls held red with matching silver accents. Hermione looked at the other three girls and smiled slightly. She had only met Leonette because she was Emeline's younger sister and she had only met her when she had come running into the shop one day crying about how she caught her girlfriend of five years cheating on her with their neighbor Alonzo. Hermione had felt awful for her then, but had learned that since then she had gotten married herself to a wonderful woman from Mexico, where they both lived. Hermione smiled slightly as she watched Leonette interact with the other girls, her blond hair and blue eyes clashing ridiculously with the silver and her protruding stomach making her look more like a disco ball. She bit her lip and made her way toward Leonette, maybe she could make some more friends, and she needed those.

"Ladies! It's time to like up and enter the hall!"

Hermione inhaled slightly thanking Merlin that the ceremony was about to begin, she was rubbish at making friends her first year at Hogwarts had told her that much and while she longed for friends in Paris she knew she wasn't staying much longer. Scorpius started Hogwarts next year, and she needed to be close to him. She smiled at the other girls she almost tried to befriend as they lined up like little red ducks right in front of her. One by one they walked up to the door to be greeted and walked down the aisle with a groomsman.

Hermione took the arm of a man who could have been American film star Scott Eastwood. She side eyed him a little longer than she should have, taking in his chestnut hair almost similar to her own to his broad shoulders she could have sworn could swallow her whole if she let them. It was almost comical when she had glanced away from him to find Draco staring at her, his lips pressed into a thin line of jealousy and his grey eyes locked and narrowed on the want to be Scott Eastwood. She let out a soft chuckle and took her position at the end of the line, holding her bouquet tightly in anticipation.

A few seconds later the song they had marched down to changed into a beautiful rendition of "your song" by Elton John played solely on the harp. Hermione felt tears spring to her eyes as she laid her eyes on her friend at the opposite end of the aisle. The dress was a very simple A-line with a sweet heart neckline. Lace traced down her arms and down her back stopping at just the right spot. On her bodice lace was embellished and cascaded gently down her skirt scalloping ever so gently at the bottom. Her hair was in a low bun off to the side, a veil sat perched upon the top of her head. She made her way down the aisle and stood at the alter while her father gave her away to Baptise who looked dashing in his dark grey tux, with a red rose pinned to the lapel. She noticed that everyone else wore green.

The officiate, a stately old man, welcomed the friends and family of Emeline and Baptise quickly told a story of their love and what the ceremony represented. Hermione looked toward the congregation of friends and family and looked at Draco who had a weird expression on his face she couldn't quite place. She bit her lip before she looked back at the couple off to the side of her, holding hands.

She briefly wondered if this is where she and Draco would have ended up, in a different time or a different life. If Harry would have been a bridesman or a groomsman, if Blaise Zabini would have been a best man to Ginny Weasley as her Maid of Honor. She averted her eyes briefly toward the floor, sad for a time lost.

"I believe the couple have written their own vows"

Emeline cleared her throat and pulled a small piece of pink paper from her bust "I will take you in my arms when you need to be held. I will listen when you need to talk. I will laugh with you in times of joy, and comfort you in times of sadness. I will love you for who you are, and help you to become all that you can be. I will age gracefully with you/grow old with you."

Hermione let a tear fall down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, but it threatened to fall again as Baptise spoke.

"I see these vows not as promises but as privileges: I get to laugh with you and cry with you; care for you and share with you. I get to run with you and walk with you; build with you and live with you."

"By the power vested in me by the grace of our lord and the great city of Paris I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Hermione smiled slightly as she watched the two embrace before averting her eyes to search the crowd for Draco. She had found him as her brown eyes locked on his and she gave him a tiny wave before the entire hall erupted in cheers for the new Mr. and Mrs.

 _.xx._

Hermione took a seat next to Draco in the reception hall after she had danced her way in next to the groomsman and before she had departed his presence they gave each other high fives and Hermione gave him the finger guns. Draco had made sure to tell her how much he appreciated the finger guns as she had sat down next to him.

As their food was served Hermione told him all about the ludicrous photos they had taken and how many times she had laughed while posing for them and how she wished he could have been there to see them first hand rather than wait the couple of weeks.

During dinner she felt Draco's hand slip up her skirt and trace little circles on her mid-thigh and once or twice she felt his hand move slightly farther up only to be disappointed when a photographer took a shot of them and instructed Draco to put his arm around her shoulders.

 _.xx._

"Joshua, is it?" She looked up at the man who she was currently wrapped around. Her arms casually strewn about his shoulders "hilarious we just met today and are already dancing. You could at least buy me dinner first." She joked.

"I think your date would be upset about that" he took her hand from his shoulder and continued to lead her around the dance floor.

She laughed slightly and looked up at him "his bark is worse than his bite, I assure you."

All of a sudden Joshua stopped dancing and released Hermione before turning around to the blond standing behind him

"Mind if I cut in?" He raised his eyebrows, his hands behind his back.

"Not at all mate" Joshua stepped to the side clapping Draco on the shoulder before walking back, turning slightly to look back at Hermione. He gave her a small smile before turning back around and walking toward a pretty blonde in a barely there green dress.

"I hope you know that jealousy is not a good colour on you, Draco Malfoy." She wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his hand at the small of her back pressing her closer into him.

He hummed slightly "mmm I don't know. I quite like the colour on you."

Hermione scoffed "I have never been jealous before in my life."

"Oh really?" He chuckled "need I remind you when there was another Yule ball in sixth year and pansy was dancing on me?" He raised an eye brow "your face with weasel was priceless." He chuckled.

She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes "as you might also remember I didn't speak to you for a week." He laughed and and smiled slightly and rested her hands on his chest, playing with his lapels "after you got back from the holidays of course."

He took one of her hands in his and waltzed her around the dance floor to the new tempo "it's a real shame I couldn't scream from the rooftops how much I loved you in Hogwarts."

She smiled slightly "there's a lot of things we wish we could have said back then." She bit her lip and looked at him "Actually I have something to tell—" Hermione gasped suddenly as she was moved into a low dip she clutched onto his arms feeling the muscles tighten under her fingertips. He brought her back up and she threw her head back in laugher "Draco!"

"It's not as easy as it looks" he laughed pulling her back up and into a kiss "I was afraid I'd drop you but I had to try it once."

Hermione laughed slightly and kissed him back "is it because Viktor did it once and you wanted to prove you were better than him?" She laughed as he diverted his eyes "well if you were wondering it was much better. You weren't shaky and your palms weren't sweaty." She smiled and pulled him into a kiss again "just let me know next time, I was completely unprepared!"

"Like this?" He dipped her again and she laughed swatting at his back.

"You're insufferable, you know that?" She looked at him still relatively dipped.

He shook his head "ah my dear I believe you're the insufferable know it all."

She laughed as he brought her back up "better than a know it all than a ferret." She busied her hands and looked up at him "I'd have kept you as a pet you know. I'm sure you'd have grown accustomed to dry ferret kibble."

Draco opened his mouth to respond but was over talked by a man on the bandstand with a microphone "Ladies its time for the bouquet toss! Single ladies and ladies looking for something more gather round the stage here! That's right!" Hermione was nudged gently Draco who, when she looked over her shoulder to shoot him a look, held amusement in his eyes.

 _I'm going to kill you_ she mouthed

 _I'd like to see you try_ he winked and she glared at him before she turned around pulling her attention back toward the bandstand.

"Iz everyone ready?" Emeline looked at Hermione and smiled and Hermione smiled back. The entire idea of a bouquet toss felt demeaning— who wanted to show their singleness or their lack of a marriage to fight for a few seconds over flowers and while she stood there Emeline tossed the flowers over her shoulder smacking Hermione in the face with them causing her to extend her arms and let the bouquet land gracefully into her arms. She looked down at the flowers at up to Emeline who beamed. Hermione gave her a fleeting smile before looking down at the flowers and shuffling off back to Draco.

He was laughing, tears running down the sides of his face "I don't know what's so funny, Malfoy." She stared at him and crossed her arms waiting for him to calm down "it means I'm the next one to get married!" She huffed.

He straightened up and looked at her "I should be so lucky."

She looked at him and threw her hands up "we have a lot to talk about before we even think about doing that." She sighed heavily and looked down at the roses. Would Draco want to marry her after all she had kept from him? Marriage was a big commitment and he had left her once before to make a big commitment to someone else. This is wasn't his first rodeo and the thought saddened her. She looked up at him and smiled, she wasn't going to let gloomy thoughts ruin the evening "but we will talk about it later, not tonight." She smiled and leaned up and kissed him "tonight, we dance!"

 **Authors note:** I never thanked everyone for the reviews on the chapter before I posted twenty and twenty-one so thank you to those who reviewed chapter 20-22 Very thankful for you all I know how difficult it is to keep seeing Hermione keep Scorpius from Draco but I'd like to clear up that I never intended to have Draco know about Scorp, it just kind of got written like that. There's going to be a point where he does tell her he knows and I'm trying to hold off on it until a certain date so there's going to be a lot more frustration about her not telling him and trust me, I'm frustrated with her too. While doing a read through I've noticed there are a lot of errors throughout, things that my IPhone auto corrects and since it's spelled correctly I don't realize it when I'm editing so please forgive me!

Also, the next chapter is legitimately nothing but smut. I got embarrassed writing it lmao, it's been such a long time that I've done that (since at least 2012 when I heard that was taking down stories that contained smut so I stopped and now I'm embarrassed about it anymore haha) so hopefully you all will like it. I'll post a warning at the top of the page for those of you who don't enjoy it will be able to skip it.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

Hermione leaned on Draco as they walked out of the hall. Her feet had hurt and she was carrying her shoes in her hands.

"Thanks for coming to this wedding with me." She looked at him from the corners of her eyes and and nudged him slightly "it would have been dreadfully boring having to dance with six pack Joshua."

"Sounds absolutely dreadful" he lamented and slipped his hand into his pocket grabbing the key and opened the door.

She tossed her shoes down on the floor and nodded "it does, doesn't it." She laughed slightly and looked over at Draco. His suit jacket was off and his sleeves were rolled up past his elbows revealing his toned forearms. His shirt was untucked on one side and his tie hung loosely around his neck. She had rarely seen Draco looking so un-kept but she had loved it.

"What are you looking at, Granger?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Just you." She bit at her bottom lip and sauntered over and stood up on her tippy toes and kissed him "just thankful that you're not the dreadful six pack Joshua." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. She buried her face in his chest an inhaled slightly, he smelled like Tom Ford and tea and it had drove her to the brink of insanity and she wanted to do something about it, with him instead of her shower head when she got home. She had been so starved of Draco Malfoy. "Can you unzip me?" She pulled away from him and turned around slowly.

Draco stepped closer to her, his hands running down her shoulders gently before slowly unzipping her dress. Butterflies pooled in her stomach as the zipper inched further and further down and she felt Draco's lips touch the base of her neck causing her to tilt her head to one side to give him better access, like she had earlier. She mewed slightly as his hands snaked around her waist pulling her closer to him as he suckled at the same spot on her neck. She brought herself to turn around, replacing her neck with her lips and started to unbutton his shirt with trembling fingers.

"Hermione.." Draco held her hands in his and locked his eyes on hers. She backed up slightly feeing foolish and a heat rush to her face.

"It was silly of me, I was too bold..."

"No, no" Draco shook his head and walked into the space she had vacated, pressing his body on hers "not silly" he kissed her gently "I just want to make sure that it's something that you want one hundred percent. I don't want you to regret anything—"

Hermione kissed him "I've never regretted anything I've done with you, Draco."

He grinned at her before he moved her hands from his buttons and down to her sides letting the dress fall to a puddle at her feet. She held her arms down at her sides trying hard not to cover her body which had changed slightly with child bearing. Her hips were slightly wider and thanks to a potion Ginny had bought her she had only three stretch marks that staked their claim by her belly button and a few had claimed her hips, all of them faded from their original purplish blue to her white skin tone, almost blending in. Draco's eyes traced over her body, over the red strapless bra to her matching knickers. His eyes flickered up to her before she was enveloped in his arms, his mouth pressing against hers almost as desperately as hers was against his. She slipped her hands between their bodies as he walked toward the bed, pushing her against the bedpost. She desperately worked his buttons and once her back and touched the post she slipped the shirt over his broad shoulders and stood there for a moment taking in his body.

He had been toned from years of Quidditch with a definitive V formation dipping well into his trousers. She started at him before she pressed her lips against his. He pulled away slowly and sat her on the edge of the bed wordlessly making her lay back as he got on his knees. He spread her legs and kissed up and down each thigh before looping his fingers in the waist band of her knickers and pulling them down in a slow tantalizing way. Hermione propped herself up on her elbows and watched as he propped one of her legs over his shoulder and wrapped his hands on the outside of her thighs. His mouth made contact with her thighs again as the tips of his fingers lazily moved up and down

"Draco..." she panted as she moved one hand off the bed and started to work her way down to her throbbing core.

"Ah ah ah." Draco tusked as he moved her hand away. She had been so close to touching herself and he had denied her "not yet" he whispered "don't want to rush being with you when I've thought about nothing else for ten years." He looked up at her from between her legs, his eyes locked on hers as he moved his mouth from her thighs to her core, lapping at the wetness erupting a loud moan from Hermione. His tongue moved around her folds gently pulling and sucking with a hunger. His thumb had found her clit and he began rubbing lazy circles at first only to speed up unexpectedly in ways that made Hermione's back arch.

She felt his mouth pull away and she opened her eyes to look at him. He was out of breath a touch, his chin damp with her juices and his eyes locked on hers. He smirked slightly as he brought his hand away from her thighs and inserted one long finger into her. She moaned loudly and almost screamed as his mouth made contact with her most sensitive area again. She grabbed onto the sheets as Draco removed his finger only to replace it with two, his mouth never releasing her.

"Draco!" She moaned as her hands moved down to his head tangling up in her hair "Draco!" She tried to push his head away as her body started to shake with the intensity of his pulsing fingers and his tongue bringing her to the edge "Draco I'm going to come!" Her hands tangled in his hair and her legs closed around his head as she rode the first orgasm that rippled through her body. Draco's mouth moved hungrily a few seconds more before he removed his fingers and his mouth, climbing on top of Hermione kissing her, letting her taste the sticky salty of herself.

She kissed him breathlessly running her hands down his back, snaking her way toward the front of his pants letting her fingers fumble over the button. He crawled off her, bringing her up to stand with him.

"You know it's not fair" she pressed kisses along his collar bones "that you're still mostly dressed and I'm just standing here in my bra"

He hummed slightly wrapping his arms around her waist "hmm I quite enjoy it." He leaned down and kissed her shoulders slipping his hands up to unclasp the bra "this is better though." He tossed the bra off to one slide and let his hands grasp at her breasts rolling her nipples between his fingers. She moaned softly and pressed her lips onto his and kissed him quickly before pulling away and and letting her hands work at his button and zipper. She pressed her lips against his chest and slipped her fingers into his waist band and pulled his pants down as quickly as she could, and gasped slightly as they pooled around his ankles.

"No underwear? That's quite bold Mr. Malfoy." She bit her lip and watched as he stepped out of them, and his shoes at the same time.

"Ah well you know me, spontaneous."

She grinned at him and kissed him quickly, teeth crashing as they let their hands explore each other's bodies his breath ragged against hers and he yelped in surprise when Hermione dropped to her knees and took his penis into her mouth. She placed one hand at the base of his shaft and let the other hand venture to his balls, massaging them between her manicured fingers.

A deep moan slipped out between his lips and she pulled his dick out of her mouth with a pop and hungrily slipped it back into her mouth, gagging slightly as she swallowed him as much as she could. He placed his hands on her head, entwining her fingers in her hair holding her in place for a second before she popped off his dick one more time.

"Fuck, Hermione!" He moaned as she licked the tip. She smiled a bit before she began to move her hand up and down his shaft. She had always been impressed with his penis, if she was being honest. He had been slightly larger than average and the pale skin of his shaft blossomed into a light pink with what now had become a slightly purple mushroom at the top. She licked under his dick and one by one put each of his balls in her mouth. Sucking softly and tugging on them gently. "Fuck" he grunted "if you don't stop I'm going to come right here" he helped her stand up and kissed her, the pre cum she had licked up mixing in with the taste of her.

"Need you." She panted moving her torso around gently, feeling his shaft rub on her belly gave her a twinge of excitement.

"Bed?" He grunted suckling on a spot on her neck, his hands palming at her hips.

"Don't care" she moaned running her short fingernails down his back gently "just need you"

He grunted and pushed her up against the wall, placing one had under her knees and one on the wall behind her "I want to watch you come" He whispered positioning himself at her entrance "what do you want, witch?"

She placed a hand at the base of his neck. Sweat had pooled at the base of his neck and over his shoulders. His elaborate high standing hair had fallen and now stuck to his forehead. Hermione pushed his blond locks off his forehead and kissed him feverishly "you know what I want." She moaned into his mouth.

"I want to hear you say it"

"You." She gasped as he entered her wet heat in one solid motion. She threw her bead back and moaned loudly. He had filled her so fully and so deeply that it was like he was made for her, the missing piece of her puzzle.

They froze on the wall, each too scared to move. Breaths came out hard and raspy and bruised lips smashed against bruised lips.

"Are you okay?" He pressed his forehead against hers.

"Yes" she breathed wrapping the leg he had propped in the air around his waist "now, Draco Malfoy, I want you to fuck me."

He grinned at her before pulling half way out and slamming into her again releasing a guttural moan from her. Draco buried his face in the crook of her neck as he continued pumping in and out of her, suckling on her neck, he moved one hand to her chest grabbing at her breasts which jiggled as he pounded her into the wall. She ran her hands down his back, her fingers pawing at his hips digging her finger tips into the flesh knowing she'd leave bruises there.

His one hand grabbed at her other leg and wrapped it around his waist, thrusting deeper into her, his hand finding its way to her clit rubbing in various speeds.

"Oh fuck!" She pushed herself into the wall "oh fuck, Draco!" She closed her eyes and bit her lip, her back scraping against the wall and her tits bouncing so hard that she grabbed them herself, tweaking at her nipples "oh yes! Just. Like. That!"

He grunted and slowed his pace "you like that?" She whimpered as his thumb sped up the assault on her clit "you're such a tight witch."

She moaned as she tried to buck her hips, the wall preventing her efforts "Draco" she whimpered "faster, please." He slipped out of her before putting the tip back in. He was teasing her and she knew she could do nothing about it "Draco!" she swallowed hard as he repeatedly pulled in and out, their raspy breaths combining in a telltale song. He pulled out one last time before entering her, full hilt. She screamed out in pleasure and tightened her walls around him, grinding her hips into his.

A low moan escaped from his throat as he found a new rhythm with her hips, his teeth grazed her jaw and when he had put a hand to her cheek she turned and took his thumb in her mouth and suckled on it gently, the second time she would taste herself on him.

"I'm going to come!" She grabbed onto his shoulders tightly "oh fuck! Yes!" She felt her walls clamp down on his penis tightly, she threw her head back slightly, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and while she moaned her entire body shuddered, and riding the wave of her orgasm to completion as Draco continued to keep his pace. She nipped at his ear and let her hands move to his chest, tweaking at his nipples.

"Oh shit." He grunted

"Yes" Hermione whispered "come inside me, Draco." She purred kissing his neck, suckling another love mark "fill me with your seed." She swallowed hard as Draco spilled hot ribbons of cum inside her, his cock jerking slightly.

He pressed his face into her shoulder, his breath ragged and his arms that were now under her bum shook slightly. Hermione wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion or from holding her up against the wall. He pulled his head away from her shoulder and looked at her, his eyes hooded. He moved some of her hair out of her eyes, the elaborate up do she had earlier had been blown to smithereens as at some point Draco's hands had destroyed it, but she didn't leave his looking any better. Pieces of his hair that wasn't drenched in sweat stuck up in odd angles. Her lips felt swollen and slightly bruised and her jaw tired. The muscles in her back screamed against the stone, her hips shifted slightly causing him to move slightly inside her a small flame building inside her.

"You look so beautiful." He reached a hand up and brushed the rest of her hair away from her face. Her cheeks, already pink from the excursion had deepened into a red blush.

"And you're so handsome." She twisted a piece of his hair between her fingers and smiled. She had wanted to kiss him but instead she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and released one leg, keeping the other wrapped around his waist. If it was possible, she could live with him inside her forever, being joined as one but she couldn't and after their breathing had returned to normal and he had softened slightly inside her, he pulled out.

 _ **.xx.**_

Draco woke up Christmas morning stretching in a bed that wasn't his, alone. He searched around the room and noticed all of Hermione's things had gone but a note had been left on the pillow she had previously occupied. He scrunched his eyebrows and grabbed the note reading it.

Draco—

You were sleeping so soundly it seemed cruel to wake you. I have to go to Harry's today for Christmas, a long standing Christmas tradition that started after Hogwarts. Take this time to go visit your mother, I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you today. I'll be back tonight after dinner, feel free to let yourself into my apartment but no peeking at your present! See you tonight.

— Hermione

P.s. tonight I'm on top.

 **Authors note:** *throws chapter and runs away screaming. Attached to chapter is a thank you note to everyone who reviewed last chapter.*


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

Hermione popped into the Potters house at a quarter after seven, causing Harry, who was sitting on the couch reading the daily prophet, to jump slightly sloshing his coffee over the sides of the cup.

"Blimey 'Minoe, you could have at least apparated outside ya know?"

She stiffly made her way toward him and plopped down on the couch next to the dark haired boy "I thought I was going to be late. Scorpius and Albus are always up before I get here.." she grabbed her wand out of her pocket and wordlessly started cleaning off the brown stains that now littered Harry's shirt and his couch.

"They stayed up very late last night trying to catch good old Saint Nick." He nodded and and took a loud sip of his coffee "they had conspired a trap and everything and if they had a wand I reckon it might have worked."

Hermione laughed slightly and laid her head on his shoulder "thanks again for taking Scorpius over his holiday. He loves coming here so much. I had to practically bribe him to come home. First week of summer we're going to Disney world. Would you care to join?"

"Don't see why not." He rested his head atop hers and looked back down at the paper "is Draco coming?" He said after a beat.

Hermione stiffened slightly and stared ahead at the fireplace "I haven't told him..." she said hesitantly.

Harry sighed and put his paper down in frustration "about Disney world or the fact that he has a son?"

"Both?" She moved her head off his shoulder and looked at him "look harry I have a plan, after the first of the year I'm going to tell him. I've kept a secret from him this long, what's another week?"

"Everything" he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and shrugged "you're brilliant, Hermione but I think you're being absolutely bonkers about this."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but promptly shut it, crossing her arms in front of her "you're right, Harry. But no one tells you how to do it properly! There's no book or queue cards and it's very nerve wracking and if there's ever been a time I need that Gryffindor courage to show up, it's now but it's off taking a holiday somewhere." She side eyed him and sighed "I slept with him last night."

"You did what?" Hermione looked at the new voice and held back a laugh at the shock on Ginny's face. She was standing there in a powder blue bath robe, a cup of tea in her left hand and her right hand was stuffed in her pocket. Pink plaid pajama bottoms jutted out from beneath the robe and fell slightly on a pair of white fuzzy slippers.

"I slept with Draco Malfoy last night." She repeated herself and cast a glance over at Harry who looked as stunned as she felt at the fact.

Ginny pulled her wand out of her pocket and flicked it toward the kitchen "tell. Me. Everything."

"Ginny!" Harry scolded "we're supposed to be a united front. Tell Hermione that she's doing wrong by both Malfoy boys and then we ask what we deem to be the important questions later."

"Oh." Ginny looked over at Harry "right." She gave a curt nod before looking at Hermione "what you're doing is wrong but Merlin's beard those love bites are going to take weeks to heal!" She said kneeling down by her friend. Harry threw his hands up exasperated and stood up "where are you going?"

"To wake the boys. Maybe all this nonsense will stop."

"We're women harry!" She called after him "it never stops!" She and Hermione laughed and she turned back to her friend "so tell me all about it?"

Hermione touched a spot on her neck and smiled slightly at the memory of last night "well, Draco and I left the party around ten and when we got back to the room—"

"Mum!" Scorpius walked down the stairs rubbing at his eyes. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly "did Santa stop by our house too?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ginny who seemed to sit on pins and needles "of course he did. I have them in this bag!" She held up her tiny pouch "but first we need breakfast, maybe if you ask nicely Uncle Harry will whip up a nice full English breakfast!"

Scorpius grinned and nodded before walking over to his uncle who was following a very slow moving Albus down the stairs with an equally slow moving James following behind him.

"I'll tell you in detail later, but I will tell you this, it was fantastic and far better than I remember." She grinned at Ginny who grinned back and both girls made their way into the kitchen.

"Do we have to eat before we open up presents?" James whined.

"Yes, it's good for growing boys like yourself." Ginny smiled and started helping Harry.

Hermione grabbed the plates out of the cupboard and silverware out of the drawer and handed the utensils to Scorpius who followed his mum.

"I heard you and Albus stayed up late to try to catch Santa." She looked at him "sorry to hear it didn't work."

Scorpius sighed and shrugged one shoulder "we almost got him! But Albus and I fell asleep" he frowned down at the silverware and looked up at his mum "I don't think he's real" he whispered.

"What makes you think that?" She kneeled down before him and grabbed his hands, taking time to move the forks from his grip "is it because you didn't catch him?"

He shook his head "no." He sighed and looked back toward the kitchen where albus and James were helping their parents "how come Santa left me presents here AND at home?" He questioned "I don't live here."

She looked at him and pulled him into a hug "I think that we should talk about this later, okay? When we aren't around James and Albus."

He nodded and hugged her back "I think so too, Mum." He pulled back and grinned "if I come home!"

Hermione laughed "you have to come home, you have to finish the term at school." She looked at him "what do you think about moving closer to Albus and James?" She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

He grinned "that'd be AWESOME!" He punched one fist into the air "is this because I get to go to Hogwarts next year?"

Hermione smiled "we don't know if you're going to Hogwarts yet. You haven't gotten your letter."

Scorpius shrugged "well, one time you said my dad was full blooded wizard and you're a witch so that makes me a wizard too! And just yesterday I made Crookshanks blow bubbles out of his nose!" He laughed

"You were at the burrow?" She stood up and started setting the table again.

"Yeah! We visited Molly and Arthur for Christmas! She gave me a sweater!" He puffed his chest out "its red and grey with a big giant S on the front!"

Hermione smiled sadly "I bet it looks great on you, Scorp!" Molly hadn't talked to her in so long, not since she found out about Draco being Scorpius' father and calling Hermione a very unflattering name. She was used to the maltreatment by her from her Hogwarts days, she didn't forget about the time she sent her the smallest egg that one Easter.

A knock on the door stirred Hermione away from her thoughts.

"I'll get it!" She ruffled Scorpius' hair as she walked past him and opened the door. If she had anything to drop in her hands she knew she would have but instead she jumped slightly and wrapped her arms around the neck of the freckled ginger man in the door way "Ronald!" She squeezed him tight "oh my god! Look at you!" She gasped "it's been ages since I've seen you!" She hugged him again before backing away. Gone was the lanky boy she had knew back in Hogwarts, even five years ago and he was replaced with someone who had muscles from working out with his teammates and playing Quidditch almost every day for ten years.

He grinned and wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly "I've missed you 'mione. Are you ever coming back to England?" He questioned as he let her go, shuffling in the door with a small girl behind him.

"Just talking to Scorpius about it. How come you have seen my son in the past four years than you have seen me?" She crossed her arms as Scorpius wandered over "it's because he's cooler than me, isn't it?"

Ron reached over and ruffled Scorpius' hair "definitely, and he's a wicked flier."

The door to the kitchen swung open "what is all this ruckus in here— oh my god! Ron!" Ginny gasped and hugged her brother "Rose!" She reaches down and kissed the top of the girls head "oh the boys are going to be so excited that you're here." Ginny paused and looked around "anyone else coming?"

Ron shook his head "naw Lav's up in Scotland with the others. Rose and I heard that Hermione was going to be here today and we just had to say hello!"

Hermione looked at the little girl, her nose peppered with freckles, her eyes light blue like crystals and her hair a fiery red. She had a small button nose and looked remarkably like both Ron and Lavender "hello rose!" Hermione smiled "last time I saw you, you were this high." Hermione raised a hand to her knees.

Rose waved quickly "hello!" She piped before she ran off to Scorpius' side and the pair of them walked back to the table.

Hermione furrowed her brow and looked up at Ron "he's not allowed to date, ever in his entire life."

He laughed and nodded "same for her."

The two watched their children interact before Hermione spoke again.

"She's headed to Hogwarts in September, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, turned eleven last week." He looked down at her and rested an arm on her shoulder "Scorpius?"

Hermione shook her head "he doesn't turn eleven until February but he exhibited loads of magical abilities as a baby and even now. I've seen him break a window because he was so angry but it wasn't our window." She glanced up at him and laughed "we're looking forward to it, with a strong wizard line like Draco's—"

"How's he doing? Harry has mentioned that you're seeing him again?"

Hermione shrugged "he's doing fine and it's going well, I quite enjoy his company and I've missed it a lot." She looked at her son and smiled sadly.

"So he knows about Scorpius?"

"No, and I'm going to tell him after the New Year. Fresh start and all that rubbish."

Ron let out a small chuckle "you should probably tell him soon. The longer you hold off the worst his reaction is going to be."

 _.xx._

After everyone had been fed, Ron and Harry took up a chat about the joke shop while Hermione and Ginny offered to clean up so they could talk in hurried whispers about what had happened between Hermione and Draco.

Not too long after that Ron and Rose had left with promises to see each other more often leaving the six of them to sit on the floor and tear open packages. Scorpius received a load of Star Wars things and a few ninja turtles because he claimed he had almost everything that had to do with the turtles. He received a small training racing broom much to Hermione's dismay and a copy of the tales of beetle the bard, translated by Hermione Granger. At one point Scorpius looked over at his mom and asked for her autograph, which left everyone laughing. He also received a new bicycle which Hermione left back at her Parisian flat along with a few extra presents for when he came home.

Hermione had received a beautiful set of macaroni earrings and a matching necklace and much to Scorpius' delight she promptly put them on. She had received a few books from Harry and the most gorgeous photo album she had seen, which showcased Scorpius from birth to now, with an obscene amount of pages left to keep adding. Ginny had told her she had been waiting to do this and kept the moving photos so long she was afraid they'd stop moving.

"Mum!" Scorpius ran up to her clutching his broom in his hand "can we go outside and fly our brooms?!"

Hermione looked at the boys and knew that it was a losing battle to fight them "as long as Uncle Harry goes out with you, and you have to wear your jacket with your mittens."

Scorpius groaned "I won't be able to grab the broom with my mittens!"

Hermione looked at him "mittens or nothing."

Scorpius grumbled "fine." He looked back at Albus and James "let's go ask your mum! My mum said it was okay!"

The boys scampered away and ten minutes later Hermione and Ginny sat on the back porch watching the four of them chase each other. Five minutes after they had walked outside Scorpius threw his mittens to Hermione which had floated down elegantly into her lap. She laughed slightly and folded her hands over her lap thankful for warming spells.

 _.xx._

"Did you brush your teeth?" She looked at Scorpius, her hands on his shoulders. He nodded and gave her his best smile. She grinned back "dirt washed from behind your ears?" He attempted to wiggle them but ended up using his fingers behind his ears to wiggle them "okay, well if they're wiggling then they're clean. Did you make sure that the trolls were out from between your toes?"

Scorpius laughed "I don't have trolls between my toes!"

Hermione shrugged "you never know. Your Aunt Ginny had ten between ONE toe and she once found a bat!"

Scorpius laughed "you can't get bats between your toes! But you can get hair in your nose!" He snorted with laugher.

Hermione laughed along with him "alright! Time for bed! Off you pop!"

Scorpius groaned "but I don't want to go to bed!"

"Why not?"

He sighed and looked down "because you'll be gone in the morning and I won't see you for another three days. I miss you mum."

Hermione gathered him in her arms and stroked his hair "I miss you too, sweetie. So so much. If you want to come home at any time you can. Just have Uncle Harry or Aunt Ginny call me and I'll be here in a jiffy."

Scorpius nodded slightly "I don't want to leave yet." He paused for a second wrapping his arms around his mother "are we really moving to England?"

"Yes, of course."

He nodded slightly "I'll miss Marcus but I'll be glad to stay here now. I hate Paris."

Hermione laughed "I promise we'll call and write to Marcus every day and we'll visit over summer holidays. You'll have a friendship just like you and Albus do. Friendship never ends."

"You took that from the spice girls."

"I did" she nodded "but it's true."

He pulled away from the hug and looked at her "what are you going to do with the shop?"

"Emeline and I have talked about it here and there and she'd be more than happy to run the French branch. We'll be opening a new branch here in England, hopefully."

He grinned "Emeline is nice! She'll do great!"

"She will." She inhaled deeply and looked at him "okay, off to bed. You practice on that broom and I want to watch how expertly you fly it when I come home."

He nodded and stared walking toward his room "hey mum?" He paused slightly flexing his hand "can you come tuck me in?"

Hermione's heart seemed to seize up as he looked back at her. His blond curls bouncing slightly but his grey eyes stared at her. "Of course."

He grinned and started walking again "and maybe read me a story from the tales?"

She nodded and started to follow him "of course."

He nodded and skipped into his room, Hermione following closely behind. She had tucked him in tightly and had laid down next to him reading the tale of the three brothers until Scorpius had fallen asleep curled next to her. She moved his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead before slipping out of his bed and downstairs to where Ginny and Harry sat.

"He's asleep." She rubbed her palms on her jeans and looked up at them "I'm going to go, I have a delivery at the shop early tomorrow." She grabbed her coat and purse.

"You're not staying for tea?"

Hermione shook her head "I'll be back in a couple of days. I'm so very thankful for you two. Scorpius loves it here and you never have to take him in but you do." She walked over to the couple and hugged them both tightly "he's very lucky to have you in his life." She smiled "I'll call tomorrow!"

And with that Hermione disapparated to the first jump and then the second and then she was back in the middle of her dark flat. She missed her son, the laugher that danced through the halls, the latter of his feet against the carpet and the thudding sound of him walking into a wall or a door when he was too busy with his Nintendo DS. She laughed slightly and turned on a light and that is when she noticed a line of rose pedals streaming through her apartment.

 _.xx._

Hermione slipped into the bath, the warm water hugging her tired body. She leaned back and sighed contently as she leaned into Draco's chest. He silently grabbed water, dripping the handful over her shoulder washing away the suds of the bubble bath she had put in.

"I'm thinking about moving back to England." She stared at their toes sticking slightly out of the water.

"Hmmm" Draco hummed in her ear wrapping his arms around her "who is going to run the shop when you leave?"

She rested one hand on his forearm and ran her thumb across his skin "Emeline and I talked about it and she said she'd be more than happy to run the shop."

"What about her baby?"

Hermione turned her head slightly to look at him "I thought about that as well. Emeline and I will be holding interviews for qualified candidates after the holidays and—"

Draco kissed her and pressed his forehead to hers "of course you're well prepared, I shouldn't have doubted you."

Hermione smiled and pressed her hand on his chest, her fingers gently tracing over the scar Harry had given him so long ago "no you shouldn't have." She looked up at him "I think if I stay in here any longer I'm going to turn into a large prune." She moved his arms from around her body and stood up "you put your eyes back in your head, Draco Malfoy. I don't want to take another shower today." She stepped out of the tub and slipped a bath robe around herself "besides, you shagging me senseless made me forget about the present I bought you." She turned around and walked out of the bathroom.

"You were the one who rode me like a broom!" He called out after her. She grinned and padded down the hallway and into the kitchen. She put on the kettle and hummed to herself as she grabbed the mugs from the cupboard. A pair of bare arms wrapped around her before she turned around and grinned at a pale chest. She kissed his chest just above his scar "you're such a tease. I put on a robe and you just have on a towel around your waist." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked back at him.

"Well maybe I have ulterior motives."

She laughed and gently swatted him "not now!" She leaned up and kissed him quickly "watch the kettle while I get dressed! You brought pajamas right?"

"For what?"

"I thought maybe you'd like to officially spend the night." She felt her cheeks turn slightly pink "since its Christmas Day and all and I just didn't want you to be alone..."

He took a long pause as she took to staring at his chest, the way the scar had started a few centimeters below his collar bone on his left side and made a jagged line to the top of his belly button. She remembered being so furious with Harry, practicing a spell he had never heard of and on Draco Malfoy none the less, his arch enemy and her lover. She let her eyes shift to the spot on his arm that seemed to have faded considerably but before she took too long of a gaze he brought his hand up and brought his fingers under her chin to gently lift her head up.

"If you just wanted me to spend the night, you could have just asked." He kissed her lightly "let me run home and get some clothes."

She smiled and smacked him on his butt as he started to walk away "don't being too many! I don't think we'll need them!"

 **Authors Note:** Children at Christmas are great but this is Hermione and Draco's first actual Christmas where it can just be them and not presents sent through owls. I'll probably write a throwback chapter about a Christmas between them and a summer between them later, but I wanted to focus more on Hermione and Draco at Christmas more so than Hermione/Scorpius. Besides, I think I have an idea about that later! Thanks to CNova, Black Banshee, nanny922, IGOTTEAMEDWARD, .mess.92 & TeamCullenPotterJackson for reviewing! I'm so very thankful for everyone being patient (I'm writing the chapter you're all waiting for RIGHT NOW.) This is now my longest story, the story with the most views, the story that has the most favorites & alerts and also in C2's. It's my second most reviewed story (after my Phantom of the Opera AU called "You don't Own Me" if you're wanting to check that out). I'm trying to stretch out the chapters so that I can post the chapter you're all waiting for around new years, I can tell you right now that it's probably going to be a two parter so just three or four more chapters and then the big reveal. Thanks again for being so patient! 3


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

Draco popped into the chateau and ran his hands down his face. He was bone tired from a draining day in Italy with his mother. She had asked him about Paris and how things were going with Hermione. She mostly wanted to know when she'd be seeing her only Grandson and Draco had lamented that she hadn't told him yet. He was giving her time but his patience was wearing thin and when he walked into his room he stopped dead in his tracks.

What had he been thinking, letting it carry on this long?

He should have had a better head on his shoulders but Salazar, the sex was better than he had remembered it and when he had entered her for the first time in such a long time he felt like himself again. He had found the piece of the puzzle that seemed to be missing all those years and she had been so tight and tasted so sweet. He looked down and closed his eyes tightly, rage building up inside him. He was angry at everything; the war for driving them apart, his parents and their stupid arranged marriage keeping him from her, her keeping Scorpius from him.

He opened his eyes and stumbled back onto his bed.

Scorpius.

He was the reason she was moving back to England, he'd be eleven soon although he wasn't entirely sure when. He stared at a spot on the floor and thought about what house Scorpius would be in. Would he be in Gryffindor like his brave mother or in Slytherin like his cunning father, maybe he had their smarts and was in Ravenclaw but Merlin help him if he was Hufflepuff. There wasn't a Hufflepuff in the Malfoy family in centuries, maybe a Ravenclaw here or there but never a Hufflepuff. He shuddered at the thought. Cedric Diggory made a good case for the badgers though.

He recalled Scorpius having a bit of that Gryffindor bravery when Hermione had been sick. He had crawled up on his lap and had fallen asleep. Draco studied the boy, he looked so much like himself but he had a lot of Hermione in him as well. The soft slope of his nose and the way it softened out, how it wasn't pointed like his at his age. He silently thanked Merlin for softening his own features as he grew older. His skin had been pale but some freckles danced their way on his nose like Hermione's and the shape of his eyes resembled hers as well. He wondered at one point if he still had the same colored eyes from the photo he kept in his wallet or if they darkened into brown like Hermione's. Draco remembered running his hand down his hair, comforting the sick boy in his sleep. It was soft and thick and Draco's heart hurt just thinking about it. How they must have looked like a family and how he wished he'd had been a fly on the wall to watch the one precious moment he had with his son.

He shook his head and grabbed his wand flicking it slightly, the clothes packing themselves in a nicely packed knapsack. He took a deep steadying breath and ran both hands down his face, he wasn't going to let this ruin Christmas, he decided he would give her until the first, that was plenty of time to give her, after ten years. He searched quickly for the present he wanted to give her before disapparating on the spot.

 _.xx._

"Okay you first" Hermione sat down in front of the tree, her black yoga pants stretched slightly over her knees and she seemed to swim in his Slytherin sweater. He was impressed that she had kept it after all these years and it seemed to still be in great shape. He looked up at her and took the box she held out to him. The excitement that radiated off her seemed to dissipate his bad mood from the chateau. The way Hermione had pounced on him and wrapped her legs around his waist as soon as he popped in told him that he was thinking all of the right things. "Are you going to open it or are you just going to stare at it?" She crossed her legs like a pretzel, her self-proclaimed cozy socks bunching at the top of her ankles.

"It's just so elegantly wrapped. I hate to tear into it."

"You act like unwrapping a gift is the worst thing. Go on then, open it!" She practically vibrated in excitement.

He laughed slightly and tore the paper away revealing a large brown box he looked up at her and she grinned at him, resting her hands in her lap and it seemed that her hair had grown in excitement too. He looked back down at the box and gently opened the lid and stared at the contents in the simple brown box.

"Are these—-?"

"The shoes I threw up on? Yes." She crawled over to him and held up the shoe to his face "smell it. No vomit or anything!" He took a small sniff and was pleasantly surprised they in fact didn't smell like vomit but instead like lavender "I had apparated into your chateau a couple weeks ago when I knew you'd be gone and I snatched these and some twigs of lavender. I know that they were your favorites and I felt like rubbish that I had thrown up on them."

"How did you—?"

"Get the smell out? I went to madam Malkins and she cleaned them out really well then she referred me to a cobbler who took care of the rest. He said the shoes were well taken care of but he put new soles on them and stitched the dragon hide a little tighter so they felt like new. He also shined them for free because I was Hermione Granger war Heroine." She rolled her eyes slightly and crawled back toward the tree behind her to grab another present "and I saw this and I knew you had to have it!"

He bit his lip and looked at the brightly colored gift "you didn't have to—"

"Rubbish." She sat back down next to him and placed it in his lap. He had been wearing black sweatpants and a fitted grey sweater pulled up to his elbows. He was very comfortable.

He ripped the paper off and threw his head black laughing "the idiots guide to ferrets."

She bit her bottom lip and beamed at him. Merlin he loved her, her secrets and all. "I saw it at the bookshop and I knew you had to have it." She reached over his arm and opened to the second page "it's even a first edition. You know, for your collection!"

He laughed and kissed her deeply "it's perfect, I love it." He kissed her again before crawling over to his knapsack "okay, your turn!" He searched through his bag and found the book he bought her "now I only got you one thing" he sat back down next to her hand handed her the present "and it's not as wonderfully wrapped as yours was."

Hermione smiled at him and he beamed with pride at the book in her hand "it's wrapped just fine Dra—-"

"Just open it would you?" He fidgeted as she laughed slightly slipping her fingers delicately under the paper. When she had finally tore off the paper and looked down at the large green leather book with its brown spine she gasped, a hand coming to her mouth.

"Is this what I think it is—?"

"Beauty and the beast the complete fairy tale in French" he watched as she ran her fingers gently over the cover "first edition."

She looked up at him, dumbfounded "but that was—"

"1740." He nodded and opened the book in her hands gently to the same page she had for him and she once again brought her hands to her mouth "it's been in the Malfoy library forever. My grandfather knew Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve quite well." He wiggled his eyebrows "if you know what I mean"

She gasped slightly "they were lovers?"

He nodded "according to my grandfather."

"But she was a muggle."

He nodded slightly "Malfoy's weren't always associated with the dark arts. A lot of us were aristocratic heirs and heiresses, my grandmother was one of Madame Pompadour's best friends in court." He shrugged "it started with my closest grandfather with Grindelwald, and probably sometime before that."

She looked up at him wide eyed "that's amazing. I'd love to sit down with you and pick your brain about it all!"

He threw his head back and laughed "well you'd have to get my mother to tell you about that. We have a tapestry in each house that we check once in a while. It magically adds people when they get married or they have children." He side eyed her and he was certain she had blanched a bit "we haven't checked it since the war." He fibbed slightly. They indeed didn't check it until Blaise had said something about Scorpius and lo and behold there he was, attached to Draco's name but without Hermione. "Most of everyone on that tapestry is either dead or alive. My mum talks to everyone alive on the tapestry, she reconciled with her sister after aunt Bellatrix died and there's me." He shrugged and decided to change the subject "I hope you know that I had to scavenge the library a quite a bit for this book. When you mentioned it I had told my mother and she said we had it. It'll do much better in your care than on a dusty bookshelf."

He watched as her fingers traced over the moss green cover delicately "shouldn't I be wearing gloves? Something this old shouldn't be handled with bare hands." He watched as she opened the book with her bare hands anyway.

"It's charmed, of course. My grandfather loved her very much and wanted to keep what she had given him forever." He shrugged.

"I think it's wonderful, I don't know what to say, Draco." She put the book down gently on the floor and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly "thank you so much."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed her back "you're welcome."

She jumped back and grinned "do you want to go read these in bed?"

He grinned back and jumped up "loser has to give winner a back massage."

Hermione jumped up and sprinted down the hall, Draco followed after her and laughed when she missed the turn and ran into the bathroom instead. He was laying neatly on her bed, a bit out of breath with his ankles crossed and the idiots guide to ferrets in his hand, upside down. Hermione stood at the edge of her bed, her hands on her hips with the book tucked securely under her arm. Her curls seemed to go every direction and like him she was a bit out of breath.

"That's not fair! You knew you were going to win."

He shrugged and turned a page unconvincingly "did not. If you didn't run into your bathroom you'd be the one getting the massage, not me."

She plopped down on the bed and he felt her curl up next to him "I hope you don't expect it tonight." She stifled a yawn and opened her book "I have date."

 _.xx._

Draco woke up several hours later, stiff and sore and when he went to move he felt Hermione beside him. He gently moved the open book off her lap and placed it on the bedside table along with his and slowly he got up, padding to the bathroom quietly. Scorpius' bedroom door loomed in front of him but he shook his head and decided to quickly do his business and get back to bed and get back to her in a more comfortable position than sitting straight up.

He washed his hands quickly and shut off the light and quickly slipped back into bed.

"Draco?" Hermione groaned rubbing the back of her hands to her eyes.

"Shh." He whispered "I'm here." He laid down pulling her down with him, wrapped tightly in his arms.

"Thank you." She mumbled "for everything you've ever given me and more."

"Shhh" he smoothed down her hair and kissed her on the forehead "go back to sleep"

"I love you."

Draco froze slightly. They both had been avoiding the L word and he wasn't sure why. Out of fear of the unknown? Knowing that once one of them said it, it became real, that it wasn't just a fling even though he'd never thought that way, or was it because he knew once she said it she'd start crying and once she started crying he'd start crying too? He bet it was the last one.

"I love you too, Hermione." He whispered, wrapping her up in his arms. Her lavender scent wafted through his nose and infiltrated his thoughts and he laid there for quite some time remembering her scent as it was at this moment.

 **Authors Note:** thanks to **Backtome2** , **Black Banshee** , **TeamCullenPotterJackson** , **nanny922** & **Green Eyed Lana Lee** for the reviews! Every review and every view is much appreciated and I couldn't be more thankful! I wanted to show how conflicted Draco is at the beginning. Like he's starting to get frustrated and I don't blame him, because I'd be frustrated too. There's two more chapters before I get to THE chapter in this story! Both of them are flashbacks. I'm also super ahead of the writing game as I have about 32 total chapters written, it's just going to be the editing part that's going to be a pain in the butt. I don't know how this story is going to go after the chapters I've written, I don't know how much longer it has either I know the end goal and I know the end chapter but it's just getting there that's going to be the journey. I hope you'll stay along for the ride, I don't think anything after THE chapter will be as frustrating though ;) As always, please read and review and I'll see you next week!


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

_**Monday May 17 1993**_

 _Draco looked down at his parchment and back up at the blackboard. It had only been a few days but the atmosphere was different. There wasn't a hand shooting up in the air every five seconds to answer a question and get another ten bloody points for Gryffindor. Potter and Weasley had sat with their heads closer together than usual muttering something about a snake and Draco groaned inwardly. He had left a book laying in the library for Hermione to find, he even written in the stupid book for her even though the thought of it deeply disturbed him and he was sure it did her too. He had known her for a year and she was very similar to him, if only she wasn't muggle born she'd make a very good friend and an even better Slytherin. He chewed on the tip of his quill in thought, still staring at the blackboard and just as sudden as he started thinking, his mind was made up— he had to see her._

" _Mister Malfoy, are you paying attention?"_

 _Draco looked to Professor Fitwick and back to the blackboard "sorry professor, stomach ache." He groaned slightly and clutched his stomach for dramatic effect "bad pumpkin pasties I presume."_

 _The small wizard eyed him suspiciously before nodding "very well, off to Madame Pomfrey with you. Now students last year we learned Wingardium Levosia but this year—-"_

 _Draco grabbed his things and casually slipped out of the door and down the hallway before he broke out into a full sprint only stopping when he reached the hospital wing. He grabbed his stomach and doubled over before opening the large doors._

 _Madame Pomfrey has her back turned, tending to one petrified student "mister Malfoy, what brings you here today?"_

 _He started at the back of her head, looking for the eyes his mother said that she had because maybe Madame Pomfrey too. He didn't see any but stayed doubled over, just in case._

" _Stomach ache" he groaned._

" _Very well... sit on the bed there and I'll tend to you in a second." She watched intently as he sat on the bed before she turned around and walked toward a room in the back._

 _Draco waited a second before jumping up out of the bed and walking behind the curtains that were put up to hide the petrified students from view. There weren't many of them and one was a ghost who just hovered there eerily giving Draco the creeps. He looked down at the beds and spotted her bushy hair two beds away. He flexed his hand down at his side out of nervousness and stepped toward her._

" _Mister Malfoy what are you doing out of bed?" Madame Pomfrey looked at him holding a bottle and a small cup. "Get back to the bed. If you're too sick to be in class then you're too sick to be visiting. Go on then" She shooed him to the bed he had been sitting in before pouring a thick green liquid into the cup "drink up and when the potion is gone you can leave."_

 _.xx._

 _Draco left the hospital Wing feeling a lot sicker than he had when he arrived. The green potion tasted like grass and was so heavy it gave him a stomach ache he felt would last for days. He slumped down towards the great hall for lunch sitting down between Crabbe and Goyle, not touching the food in front of him._

" _Not hungry, Draco?" Pansy's voice fluttered through his ears breaking his train of thought._

" _No" he grumbled and crossed his arms "stomach ache"_

" _Still?" Faux concern laced through her voice. Draco found it almost comical "maybe you should go back to the hospital wing...?"_

 _He shook his head, he didn't want to go back to the hospital wing today, he didn't want to see her laying there "no, it's just the potion. Bloody woman doesn't know what she's doing like everyone else in this stupid school." He grumbled "bet they know what they're doing at Durmstrang..."_

 _.xx._

 _ **Tuesday may 18, 1993**_

" _Mister Malfoy, what brings you in here today?" Madame Pomfrey wiped her hands on a towel she put in a pocket of her apron._

 _He held up his hand with a large gash on the palm "potions accident" He looked down at his shoes before he looked back up at Madame Pomfrey who had a disapproving look on her face._

" _I'm going to have to have a talk with that man. Who goes around giving twelve year olds knives?!" She threw her hands up in exasperation "hold out your palm, Mister Malfoy." He did as she told and she grabbed his hand in hers "how did it happen?"_

 _He shrugged "I knocked the knife off the table and went to catch it. I wasn't thinking." In all honestly he hadn't been paying attention, which is how he had knocked his knife off the table and decided to catch it instead of letting it clank to the floor. Snape had disapproved of his carelessness and instead of mending it himself, he sent Draco away to the hospital wing where his distraction lay petrified._

" _Obviously not." She pulled her wand out and pointed it at his hand "Vulnera Sanentur"_

 _Draco watched as his skin mended magically before him, something that never ceased to blow his mind no matter how many times his mother mended him as a child. Madame Pomfrey let go of his hand and he stared down at it in amazement._

" _Thank you." He looked up at the elder witch and she gave him a small smile before shooing him out of the wing._

 _.xx._

 _ **Thursday May 20, 1993**_

" _Oh in Merlin's name Mister Malfoy, what are you doing back?"_

 _Draco looked at her feeling a bit woozy "Venomous Tentacula" he muttered before falling to the floor._

 _.xx._

 _He woke up with no idea how he got to the hospital wing. He vaguely remembered professor sprout sending him somewhere after something happened. He groaned slightly as he sat up and looked around the hospital wing. It was dimly lit due to the moon shining in through the windows, casting a eerie shine through the petrified ghost. He looked around and saw his file sitting next to his bed and he grabbed it._

 _Known cause: Venomous Tentacula_

 _Symptoms: Passed out, swollen area, filled with puss. Overnight observation._

 _He furrowed his brows. Of course it was herbology. He didn't have great luck in herbology but he at least wasn't Longbottom. He made a mental note to make sure his father had heard about Professor Sprout not walking him to the hospital wing himself. The teachers here were so daft, he wasn't sure how they were qualified to teach at all._

 _Although most of it had also been his fault too. If he hadn't been so distracted this week with thoughts of Hermione. He wished he never faked his sickness to begin with. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to see her. They didn't talk to each other since they got off the train during their first year and when she chose to befriend Potty and Weasel he knew her friendship was lost. He wasn't that great of a friend anyway, his parents wouldn't have approved a Gryffindor to be friends with let alone a muggle born._

 _And he had said that he hope it would be her next._

 _He swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up a bit woozily. He had to apologize. Maybe that was why he wanted to see her stupid bushy hair or her slightly bucked teeth or her really pretty brown eyes. He shook his head slightly and checked around to make sure Madame Pomfery wasn't in sight. She could be downright nasty if a student was caught out of bed and he didn't want to be at the receiving end of it._

 _His feet padded toward her, sticking slightly to the stone as he walked. He held his wand in his pocket just In case he came in front of any unfriendly snakes, human or otherwise._

 _He reached the side of her bed and reached out and touched her hand. He expected her skin to feel soft, and pliable like she was still alive but it felt waxy and quite like his Grandfather Abraxas' hand when he had died and his Aunt Bellatrix made him touch the man as a sign of respect. He later thought that maybe she just wanted to see if he'd do it, as a bit of a dare. He shuddered at the thought and promptly dropped his hand from Hermione's. His eyes scanned over her, from her outstretched arm to her bent knees she was creeping around, terrified at being next._

" _As for me, I hope it's Granger" the words echoed in his ears, he whispered it out loud and yet she still hadn't moved, her eyes were still wide and glossy "I'm sorry." He whispered "so sorry." He grabbed at her hand again half expecting her to pull away and when she didn't he grabbed onto her hand tighter "I'm so sorry. I don't know if you'll ever forgive me. I have to keep up this charade, wear this mask like i don't give two flying brooms about you." He whispered quickly "and I didn't expect you to be right there! I saw you and I panicked and said your name." He was breathing fast and he was pretty sure he was on the verge of tears but Malfoy men didn't cry and he was definitely a Malfoy man. "I'm just—- I'm sorry." He finished lamely. He didn't know if she could hear him or if she was deaf as she was blind. He sighed and stood up looking out the window next to her bed. The flowers had died. He frowned and pulled out the dead flowers and dumping them into the garbage. He pulled out his wand "Orchideous" he quickly grabbed the flowers that popped out from the tip of his wand._

 _They were much too large for the vase. He wasn't even supposed to learn the spell yet but he had grown bored with his current curriculum and decided to read ahead a couple of years. He looked at the flowers and nodded before lamely walking back to his bed. He'd work on making them smaller in the morning and he'd come back with better flowers this time._

 _He laid back down and rolled over, and within minutes he was fast asleep._

 _.xx._

 _ **Sunday, May 23, 1993**_

 _The feast had already started and all of the students who were petrified sat next to their friends. They laughed and smiled and gasped as they heard the news about Ginny Weasley._

 _All accept one._

 _Draco kept glancing at the Gryffindor table for the bushy hair that had been missing for the last two weeks. The sound of the large doors opening peaked his interest and he turned his head to see the mane of curls bounding down the aisle toward her friends. His grey eyes cooly following her and he gripped his fork harder in his hands as he watched her arms fling around potter and Weasel._

" _Are you okay, Draco?"_

 _Draco tore his eyes away from the Gryffindor table and looked over at Blaise who had an eyebrow quirked._

" _Of course, just thinking about how many points Gryffindor's golden girl is going to get them just for returning." He rolled his eyes "it's a shame she was ever returned to us at all."_

 _Blaise stared at him, his other eyebrow joining the one arched high in his forehead "sure, mate." He looked at him skeptically before turning back to his roast._

 _He grabbed his goblet of pumpkin juice and drank deeply from it the way his father sometimes did from his nightly glass of firewhisky. He tried to focus on the turkey and mashed parsnips on his plate but ended up pushing them around for the most part, making sure his attention didn't wander back to the bushy haired girl across the aisles._

 _Looking up was his first mistake because her chocolate brown eyes stared right at him and a smile appeared on her face, a form of a thank you he wasn't quite sure he deserved. His second mistake was smiling back across the tables to the girl who seemed to bring life back into him, no matter if she was hugging potty earlier. His third mistake was looking at Blaise, who looked over his shoulder in the direction then back to Draco grinning and wiggling his eyebrows._

 _He knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from Blaise but he was glad it had been him instead of Pansy who sat next to him cutting into her ham oblivious to the golden girls return, and of his light._

 **Authors Note:** Surprise! In order to get out the chapter everyone wants (and I want you to have) I have to post 2 chapters this week and next! I hope that you all enjoy the flashback chapter! One more flashback chapter before we get to what we all want! Thanks to everyone who reviews the previous chapter that I don't get to say thank you to! please read and review!


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

_**September, 2004**_

 _Astoria walked out of the back door, her blue cloak wrapped tightly around her thin frame. Her long brown hair was wrapped in a tight bun at the back of her head making her wish that she had worn it down to give her some warmth. It was early August but she was still cold. She had been cold since her hair had started to thin, since her body started to betray her and grow skeletal, since she had been diagnosed with her serious blood malediction three years ago. It had wrecked her, wrecked Draco and wrecked Theodore._

 _Astoria smiled at the thought of Theodore as she made her way down the stone steps and into the garden. She walked slowly around the large fountain and sat on a stone bench near the freesias. While the thought of Theodore had made her smile, it had also made her incredibly sad. Last year his visits had become increasingly rare and they had stopped completely after he had kissed her and the fragile skin on her lips burst open. He had told her that he loved her, but he couldn't sit back and watch her die. She vaguely recalled how he said he would be there when she took her last breath but when faced with her contaminated blood he fled, too afraid to catch what she had, although he never could have. Draco had found her a couple hours later laying in the garden crying, with her lip still bleeding talking about how Theodore had left. How it was her fault and how Draco shouldn't have to deal with her when his own little family was settled in France._

 _Astoria leaned her head forward and sniffed at the freesias. When she wasn't so ill she had planted them in honor of Scorpius on his third birthday. She had been so excited to hear about the little boy, heartbroken for Draco's lack of involvement due to Hermione's lack of judgment. How she longed to meet the little boy, he was about five now And Astoria's heart clenched at all the things Draco had missed. She wasn't entirely sure if she could forgive Hermione for all the important things Draco had missed in his own son's life._

" _Astoria?!"_

 _Draco's voice rang out into the garden laced with worry. Worry for her. Astoria shrank on the bench, trying to hide among the flowers._

" _Astoria?!" Draco's voice became panicked as she watched him search the garden maze. She sighed gently and stood up from the bench. Draco's head snapped over toward her and relief flooded his face "stori, what are you doing out here?" He walked toward her and enveloped her in his arms gently._

" _I wanted to come out and see the flowers." She said weakly "I miss them so much and I thought a bit of fresh air would do me some good." She looked up at him and smiled slightly._

 _He sighed and guided her back toward the house "the healers said as far as patio."_

 _She shivered slightly and looked up at him. His cloak was off, probably strewn about haphazardly somewhere in the manor when he realized she wasn't in bed, his black suit vest looked like a very large ink stain against the white dress shirt he wore, now rolled up to the middle of his forearms. Astoria often found herself admiring his form, he had been muscular but lean where his years as a seeker morphed his body. Astoria often wondered if in a different life where they weren't hopelessly devoted to others who cast them aside, if they'd had fallen in love._

" _I know, but the freesias were calling to me and I had to see them." She glanced up at him and smiled slightly "I'm okay, Draco, I swear by Merlin." She looked down and concentrated on bringing her legs up on the stairs one by one "have you heard from Theo?"_

 _She felt Draco tense up a bit as she held onto him tightly "yes."_

" _And?"_

" _And that's it." He shrugged as they made their way to the top "he asked how you were doing, I told him to come by and see for himself."_

 _Her eyes lit up as she looked up at Draco as he settled her into one of the lounge chairs sitting directly in the sun. The warmth felt good on her emancipated face "he's coming? When?"_

 _She watched as Draco's face contorted into... something. "Uh, he's not." He sat down next to her and put his hand on her knees "he says he misses you but he can't come."_

" _Oh." Astoria looked up at Draco and smiled tightly "well that's fine, isn't it?" She sat up from her lounging position and flailed her arms "It's just fine that he can't be inconvenienced enough to come see me." She grabbed Draco's forearms softly and inhaled deeply, and greedily as if she was running out of air "I'm dying, Draco. I'm dying and the love of my life is refusing to see me because he's afraid of..." a sob escaped from her throat and she inhaled deeply to regain her composure "of what?"_

" _I don't know" Draco said softly as he wrapped Astoria in his arms and let her cry onto his suit vest._

 _.xx._

 _December 31st, 2004_

 _Astoria day on the couch in the sitting room of Greyside manor and stared out the window at the beach just outside. How she longed to don her bathing suit and feel the water lap at her toes._

" _Mother is wondering if you're feeling up to the festivities tonight?"_

 _Astoria looked up and over at her friend and smiled slightly before nodding "I believe so, you did buy me a beautiful gown, Draco." She pulled the wool cloak tighter around her body "if only my skin wasn't so mottled I'd look beautiful in it." She looked down at her hands and sighed._

" _Oh stori." Draco sighed walking over to her "you're going to be the most beautiful one there!"_

 _Astoria smiled and looked out the window "you wouldn't say that if Hermione Granger was here" She elbowed him in the ribs gently and laughed when Draco pretended it had hurt him "Draco?" She grabbed at his hands and he sat down next to her "i want to be clear on something. I don't have much time left, the healers know it, you know it, and I know it." She licked her lips and grabbed at his hands "I don't want you to grieve over me, I need you to go find Hermione." She smiled sadly at him "Just because I never got my happy ending doesn't mean you don't deserve yours."_

 _ **.xx.**_

 _7 January, 2005: Malfoy Manor_

 _Draco slipped the black suit jacket over his shoulders and buttoned it gingerly, pale fingers sliding over the buttons shakily. He wasn't sure he could be ready for this no matter how much he tried to prepare for it._

 _She had gone a couple hours after midnight January first, peacefully in her sleep as if her blood and her body didn't betray her for the last couple of years. As if she had planned it. They had gotten back to the manor and she had retired soon after. Draco had followed her soon after and fell into a peaceful slumber in the chair next to her bed. He woke up to her silently gasping for air, her eyes closed still and before he could call the healers she had passed away. The sounds of her shallow breathing still rang in Draco's ears, the sight of how small she was laying on her bed seared into his memory forever._

 _She had been his biggest supporter when it had come to Hermione, she rode the highs with him and more often than not the lows. She advocated to him about how he deserved to see his son, had planned freesias in his honor on his birthday and made sure he never lost sight of Hermione in their arrangement._

" _You okay, mate?" Blaise's dark head popped into the room before he slid his whole body into the room. Blaise wasn't much bigger than he was but he seemed to take up a lot more physical space than Draco himself did._

 _He nodded curtly before throwing on his robes "I'm fine."_

 _Blaise's chocolate brown eyes searched Draco's face "Your wife died, one of your best friends and for some reason the witch liked Hermione sometimes more than you and all you can say is that you're fine?" He scrunched his eyebrows together and shook his head "naw mate, I don't believe that."_

 _A dull knock came from the door causing Draco and Blaise to look at each other in surprise. It wasn't usual to have visitors visiting your sleeping quarters before the funeral of your wife— a woman who had been his best friend more than she had a wife. Blaise looked over at Draco and shrugged one shoulder before he opened the door._

 _Theodore Nott stood there in royal blue robes, his short caramel colored hair was parted and brushed off to one side and his blue eyes seemed to hold all the sadness Draco was feeling. What he would have done to be able to punch him in the face and break that abnormally large nose of his._

" _What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" Draco eyed him suspiciously, waiting for someone to come out from behind him, to expose themselves like the ink stain that they were._

 _Theo looked taken aback "For 'stori."_

 _Blaise sniffed and looked at the both of them before settling on Theo "in royal blue robes? Mate..."_

 _Theo shook his head "they were Astoria's favorites so I figured..."_

 _Draco looked at Blaise before launching himself at Theo, pushing him up against the wall and holding him by his lapel "some nerve you have showing up here, Nott." He gathered more robe material in his hands, pulling Theodore's face closer towards his._

" _What the hell!" Theodore looked around his wild eyes landing on Blaise who in turn held the palms of his hands up and sat down in a chair before crossing one long leg over the other at the knees. "What the bloody hell is this all about, Draco!"_

" _All she wanted to do was to see you one last time." Draco's eyes searched his friends face before letting go of his lapels "for merlin damn near two years that's all she ever wanted but you were too busy eating your feelings from in between Daphne's legs!"_

 _Blaise's eyes went wide and Draco heard him cough to cover up the slight laugh that had escaped his throat._

" _That's Hippogriff shyte and you know it!" Theo ran his hands down his now wrinkled set of robes._

" _Is it?" Draco shoved his hand in his pocket fiddling with his wand. He'd feel better if he had just hexed him to oblivion "Daphne isn't exactly quiet, is she? And in your office?"_

" _Shut up, Draco"_

" _I came to invite you to her birthday celebration two years ago, it's all she wanted was to see you. To know that you were balls deep into—"_

 _Theo rushed at Draco in a quick motion and knocked him down to the ground. Draco growled and grabbed his wand out of his pocket._

" _Ooh we have a tough wizard here." Theodore sat up on Draco's hips effectively keeping him partially pinned and held out his hands, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "You can take the boy out of the death eaters but you can't take the death eater out of the boy." Theo smirked "hiding behind a wand because he can't fight like a man."_

 _Draco looked confused and shook his head "never could stomach the weak minded individuals who think that one of their best mates took the mark willingly" he looked over at Blaise who rubbed the same spot on his left arm as Draco had on his many times before he turned his attention back on Theo "or those who stopped seeing someone who they claimed to be the love of their life because they were afraid to catch a blood curse." Draco shook his head "must be an idiot who doesn't realize that they can't catch a curse that was bestowed upon a family centuries ago. It's not like Dragon pox, it's a curse." Theodore looked confused "a curse you idiot." Theo looked down at Draco who still had his wand pointed toward him "and I'm getting quite tired of you sitting on me." His friend slowly got up and Draco flicked his wand at the fireplace "go home, Nott. Go home and never return. You didn't want to see her when she was alive then you don't get to see her when she is dead."_

 _Theodore looked around at his two friends and hung his head "I just thought it would be easier. To pretend she had already died and to try to move on." He stood there looking like Merlin's underpants, used and discarded. "I couldn't watch he it waste away. To watch her skin break so easily after kissing her just told me I couldn't do it. The blood and the fear of it being transferred to me... I didn't think." He looked up at Draco and at Blaise who had gotten up from his position in the chair and joined Draco "Daphne was there to help me pick up the premature pieces and she was willing to let me do whatever I wanted to her. She opened to me like a buffet and she had tasted so sweet it was easy to forget about 'stori for as long as it took to make Pansy come." He sighed and looked at the fireplace "after a while Daphne became pregnant and how could I face Astoria after that?"_

" _What? That you fucked her sister because you couldn't cope with her dying?" Blaise looked at him "all through Hogwarts you talked about how you wanted nothing more than to marry Astoria and yet..."_

 _Draco felt like he was about to get sick "how does one do that to someone that they're supposed to love." He turned toward the window before looking back at his friend "how does a sister do that to another sister?" Draco shook his head "the both of you are despicable." He breathed heavily thinking about cursing him to hades and back but thought better of it. He couldn't be put in Azkaban now, not when one of his best friends had died and especially now that he had a son "Get out."_

 _.xx._

 _21 March 2005_

 _Draco seemed to have appeared out of nowhere but the people who were mulling around didn't seem to notice or if they did, they didn't seem to care. The grass here was thick and bright and felt like carpet beneath his shoes. He found it amusing that he traveled among the green grass while visiting the Greengrass mausoleum where Astoria was entombed. Draco stopped at the steps where a bouquet of roses, carnations, hyacinths, orchids and tulips sat on the steps, bright against the cold marble. Apology flowers. He almost rolled his eyes at the array of pinks, reds and whites that we're from Theo no doubt. They weren't there when he left for Paris, and they were there now. He hoped he felt guilty although the birth announcement seemed to tell otherwise. A girl, Florence Astoria Nott has been born on the 7th of April and Draco assumed if he was a good friend he'd congratulate his old mate. It turned out that he wasn't._

 _He sighed and looked up at the top of the mausoleum and then back down at the flowers where a small silver envelope had appeared, his name on the front with a beautiful script. Confused he reached for it and opened it slowly._

 _ **Draco—**_

 _ **If Blaise kept to his part of the deal then he'll have left this at my grave. I sincerely hope that he had charmed it to show itself to you when you needed it most. If not then I hope it's not wet or moldy. I know how well you do with both of those.**_

 _ **I don't know what you're still doing here. You need to find Hermione and if you're reading this then you haven't found her. If I guess I can almost guarantee you've been to Paris but you came back out of guilt. You have nothing to be guilty of, Draco Malfoy. We weren't in love we were in deep tolerance that turned into mutual respect and a friendship that lasted four wonderful years so I ask you to stop grieving me. If it's been two hours or two years I want you to stop. I'm in a much better place now, or at least I hope so. I hope it's filled with the beautiful flowers of the garden I loved to tend to when I was alive. I want you to go find that woman and go find your son. I'll be up here, waiting and watching the father you'll become and I can't wait. My only regret in this life is not being able to witness it alive.**_

 _ **Take care Draco and find her. Merlin knows you deserve all the happiness.**_

 _ **Forever,**_

 _ **Astoria**_

 **Authors Note:** Ohhh, a chapter with mostly Astoria's point of view. I didn't really want to make her the healthy vision she seems when she's with Draco in the beginning. I wanted to show that she was sick and I wanted to make her weaker, sicker and I wanted to portray that people are terrified of it even though they're uneducated about what it really is. Next chapter is going to be the masquerade so I'm really excited for it Also, I'm going to post this chapter and the next two all today, it's the week before Christmas and it's a busy week for me and I want to make sure that you all have the chapters I worked so hard on for you for Christmas I hope you all enjoy and as always, read and review and I'll see you next week!


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

_December 31, 2009_

The clock on the wall ticked almost too loudly for Hermione's sake. The snow that fell softly outside her window brought a blizzard overnight blanketing the city in deep snow. Hermione sat in her favorite chair next to the window, her legs curled under her, a soft blanket atop her legs. A book in one hand, a cup of tea on the table next to her. It had been almost perfect except for the loudness of the clock.

She grabbed her wand right next to her tea cup, silencing the clock. She smiled to herself and snuggled into her chair, turning her attention back on her book. A small content sigh escaped her lips as she turned the page. A piece of paper slipped from between the pages onto her lap. She shut the book and placed it down on the table next to her tea and opened the yellowed piece of parchment.

 _5 July, 1998_

 _Dear Draco,_

 _I know this is the wrong time to write to you, seeing as you're recently engaged. Congratulations on your engagement to Astoria, you make a very handsome couple and I am truly happy for you. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. I do have a confession to make, I'm not entirely writing to you about your engagement but to tell you something with the upmost importance. I'm pregnant. You don't have to worry about taking care of it, I'm not asking for anything financial or for you to be in its life. Ron and I got engaged today too, if you can believe that. He's promised to take care of me, and this baby. I can only hope it's for the best._

 _Love always,_

 _Hermione_

Hermione stared at the letter for what seemed like hours after she had read it. She hadn't forgot about the letter, not entirely. It always lingered at the back of her mind and she always pushed it aside. She almost laughed at it, the way it showed itself on the deadline she made. She folded the paper back up and stared out the window watching the snow fall until the ding from her mobile woke her from the trance.

 **From: Draco Malfoy  
To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 2:52pm  
Pick you up about 5, then we'll drive to my mums together. **

**To: Draco Malfoy  
From: Hermione Granger  
Time: 2:56pm  
Drive? Apparition would be easier! Paris is entirely under snow. **

**From: Draco Malfoy  
To: Hermione Granger  
Time: 3:00pm  
Apparition it is. See you at 5, Granger. **

Hermione smiled softly down at the phone before she looked back out the window. Today was the day whether she liked it or not.

.xx.

She pulled the dress over her hips and slipped her arms into the lace sleeves. She thought it had been daring when she saw it at the shop but Emeline had said it was perfect and that the tank top sewn into the lace top looked elegant and not tacky like Hermione had thought. A black band rested at her waist separating her below the knee tulle skirt from the matching champagne lace top. She pulled on a pair of T strapped nude heels and zipped her dress up before she magicked her hair into soft curls. By the time she had finished putting on her makeup she heard a knock on the door.

She exhaled slightly and rushed out to the living room, grabbing the letter that had fallen out of her book earlier and shoving it into the pockets of the dress. She stood at the door and smoothed down her skirt before opening the door to the blond man in a black tux.

"Hey." She looked at him and smiled "don't you look fancy."

He leaned down and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

"You look beautiful." He whispered as he kissed her again, tangling his fingers in her hair.

She smiled against his lips and pulled away "thank you" she pulled away and stepped back to take a better look at him "you do look quite handsome yourself, Malfoy." She walked over and grabbed her wand off the table and placed it in her pocket as well "I suppose we'll be leaving early to meet your mum since you were on the invitee list.

He shrugged and she quirked an eyebrow "while a Malfoy is always on time, Draco is not." He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing kisses on her neck.

She pulled away almost too quickly for her taste but she had to have a clear and level head for tonight, no matter what promising things were hidden behind kisses "we are not showing up late to your big New Year's Eve party just to have a quickie, Draco." She scolded.

He slumped his shoulders "fine, if you say so."

"I do." She nodded she picked up her mask from the kitchen table "do you like?" She placed it up to her face. The mask was silver and so sparkly Hermione joked to Emeline that she might have needed sunglasses to look at it. On the right side a silver ornate peacock sat perched with champagne feathers jutting out to one side.

"Peacock is a nice touch." He nodded looking the mask once over "I should mention that everyone takes their masks off half way through the night. It gets rather stuffy under them when you're trying to dance and to converse and there's a million other people." She watched as he strutted over to her and held out his arm "shall we?"

She smiled and nodded "we shall!" She took his arm and with the turn of his heel they apparated side by side, a small amount of dread filling her stomach as she remembered Ron's splinching accident years ago.

 _.xx._

Greyside estate was nothing Hermione had ever seen before. It was a large Crème colored building with slate grey roofing. At either end of the house two slightly domed roofs sat while in the center two of them sat looking like, to her, lampshades someone forgot to put back on top of the bulbs. It seemed to have countless windows but by the time Hermione made her way up the rest of the parkway with Draco, she had counted 47, including the tiny ornate ones at the top. The fountain in the middle of the parkway bubbled, almost as if it knew how Hermione's stomach had started to feel at the thought of facing Narcissa Malfoy.

A warm hand slipped into hers and she looked over to her left to the blond standing there. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before they both made their way up the gravel path.

She paused at the door and turned to look over at him "what if your mum doesn't like me." Her eyes searched his face almost desperately.

He laughed and kissed her quickly "she's going to love you, just like I do."

Hermione's eyes went wide but before she could respond the double doors opened to reveal Narcissa Malfoy in all her glory.

"Draco, how lovely of you to finally show up" She looked over at Hermione and smiled softly "Miss Granger."

"Its barley five past, mother." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before sliding his way into the grand building.

"Mrs. Malfoy" Hermione held out her hand and smiled back at the woman "it's lovely to meet you."

Narcissa looked at Hermione's hand and back up at her face before shaking her head. Hermione looked at the woman in front of her and panicked. She wasn't sure how to greet the woman in front of her, Draco never told her. Maybe her blood prejudice went deeper than Hermione originally thought and what if she didn't want to shake Hermione's hand. She wanted to drop her hand, and look elsewhere but she held her ground, her eyes locked with the woman in front of her.

"we do not handshake in this house." She shook her head and leaned in kissing Hermione on both cheeks "it's too impersonal" she smiled slightly and Hermione released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding "and please, call me Narcissa." She moved out of the door way and let Hermione in.

The entrance hall was almost as grand as the outside, two large staircases sat off to both sides of the room, meeting at the top joined together by the matching black iron handrails. A large chandelier hung in the middle of the room, sparkling off the marble floor.

"You have a lovely home." She looked behind her shoulder at Narcissa and smiled "I heard you live in Italy for most of the time?"

Narcissa walked in front of Hermione and paused to quickly rearrange a large floral display "I do. I quite enjoy Italy. You and Draco should come sometime, it's very romantic."

Hermione knitted her eyebrows together as she followed her "I suppose." She stared at the back of Narcissa's head, studying the elaborate French twist. The blond woman in front of her donned a large dress, the top a fitted black long sleeve that was attached to a skirt that Hermione thought looked ridiculously heavy. It was black with thick gold swirls, hitting at her ankles but fanned out in the back. She had a diamond necklace around her neck and matching bracelets on her wrists and hermione suddenly felt very under dressed.

"I do have to ask you, Miss Granger... what are your intentions with my son?" She looked at her over her shoulder, her well-manicured fingers gliding gently over the white peonies.

"I— I don't think I understand what you mean, Mrs. Malfoy."

Narcissa turned her head back toward the flowers "I think you do, Miss. Granger. I just want you to know your true intentions before you both get hurt... Again." She bit her bottom lip "I have a lot of questions for you, Miss. Granger, but I feel like they're better left for a less formal time."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but the door opened off to her right, Draco slouching from it holding a piece of what looked like turkey.

"Oh. Hi mother, Hermione" He grinned slightly, a piece of meat sticking out from between his lips.

"Just having a bit of girl talk, you weren't harassing the staff, were you Draco?" His mother patted his cheek

"No of course not." He looked over at Hermione and she gave him a tense smile. She watched has he furrowed his brows together "I was thinking about taking Hermione to the library before the guests arrived."

"Just be back by six, Draco. You know how important this is to your father's memory." She smiled sadly down at her shoes.

"Of course." He nodded and grabbed Hermione's hand leading her up one set of the double steps and down a long hallway that housed suits of armor that turned their heads as Draco and Hermione scurried past. Draco turned a corner sharply causing Hermione to almost run into the large double doors in front of her. She briefly wondered if the extremely wealthy had double doors everywhere. He leaned on the wall by the door and looked at her "are you okay? You seem very tense."

Hermione shook her head and smiled "I'm fine! Meeting your mum, being here." She threw her hands up and laughed slightly "I grew up in Hampstead Village in a four bedroom home with a large backyard with a inheritance that was sizable enough to buy a house or something. It's all very different than what I'm used to." She smiled and leaned on the wall opposite "it's a bit overwhelming," she shrugged "one never really tries to estimate the wealth of their boyfriend, no matter how many manors or chateaus she's been in."

Draco laughed slightly "if I've ever made you felt inferior... at all... any time... I'm sorry."

She pushed herself off the wall and onto him "and what do you plan on doing to make up for it?" She raised her eyebrows, her hands resting on his chest.

"I can think of a few things but those are inappropriate so I think this Library might suffice." He opened one of the double doors and Hermione gasped as she walked away from Draco and into the room.

There was a large staircase in the middle of the room that led to the upper floor, a large fireplace sat off to one wall and the furniture looked to be very uncomfortable dragon leather. Books were stacked on top of books and the ceiling seemed to be close to the second level. It wasn't as beautiful as Draco's but it would do.

She turned to look at him and smiled "is this why you wanted to bring me here early? I could have arrived with the guests—"

"I wanted you to meet my mother first. She's heard about you but she's never formally met you. I thought it would ease the tension."

Hermione ran her fingers over the spines of the books quite like she had done at Draco's "mmm. Your mother is a lovely woman. She seems very sad." She glanced over at him before pulling a book out of its spot "she misses your father?"

He nodded "she does. I don't, not as much as she does anyway. She never agreed with his view points but went along with them during the later years to keep herself alive. I think she misses my old father, not the man he became." He went behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Do you mind if I stay here while you and your mother greet your guests?" She glanced at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace, she couldn't believe the time already "I'm sure she misses you and would love to spend some time with you before they arrive."

He let her go and shrugged, his eyebrows knitted in confusion "I'll come get you before supper?"

She nodded and smiled before watching him walk out with a glance behind him, confusion still etched on his face. She planned for much more in the library, more so how to tell him about his son, and what his mother meant.


	30. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Draco had been right. Half way through the party she had promptly removed her mask because she was sweltering. Draco had left his mask off, she thought it had been a shame he didn't put the black crows mask on, but she had enjoyed the mystery of the others.

"There's someone I want you to meet, she's an old friend of the family. I think you two would really get along, you both were top of your year at school only she went to beauxbatons." He grinned and he took Hermione by the hand and led her over to a woman who had been talking to another guest "Anita!"

The woman turned around and gasped in excitement wrapping her arms around Draco. Hermione gasped, because she had seen this woman before, in photographs on the nightstand of his apartment, in person while on holiday New York—

"'Mione?" A deep male voice shook her thoughts and she turned to face the man she once had a marital affair with. He seemed to have grown broader, his skin tanned a bit darker and his hair now danced above his waist line. He had on a blue suit and brown loafers, his American accent sounding out of place. He reached down and hugged her tightly, and she hugged him back, a bit awkwardly as his hair had enveloped them both.

"Philip?" She questioned back looking at the man with the long brown hair. Draco's attention was turned to them, but Hermione looked at the man in front of her, afraid to see what the man beside her looked like "how are you here? You're not a—"

He threw his head back and let loose a laugh that sounded almost like a bark "a wizard? No. But Anita here is from one of the oldest Wizarding families in France." He grinned wrapping his arm around Anita's waist.

Hermione felt Draco's arm snake its way around her own and she suddenly felt extremely hot and she was pretty sure someone had turned off the air because it was getting hard to breathe.

"How is your child?" She glanced at Anita who glanced at Hermione and then back at Draco.

"Oh!" Philip jumped slightly and grabbed his wallet taking out a photo handing it over to her. She looked down at the photo of a cute little raven haired boy with ice blue eyes. He looked nothing like Philip and Hermione had a sinking feeling that this child wasn't his "this is Elijah. He's 7 now, can you believe it?" He grabbed another photo out of his wallet and handed it to her "this is Aiden, he's 5" Hermione took the photo and looked at the little boy. His hair was a light brown, his eyes dark and his facial features strong. This was definitely his own child and Hermione was truly happy for him. "How is—?"

"Great!" She put her eyes wide and glanced over at Draco who wore a confused expression on his face. "Just great."

"How do you two know each other?" Draco's voice slipped around her like a soft blanket and she wanted to hide under it forever.

"Oh that's quite an interesting story." Anita's voice sliced through her comfort "She was bedding my husband when I wasn't around. Isn't that right, Philip?"

Philip nodded "if I had known I was banging two witches! Boy howdy!" He whistled.

He continued to talk but the ringing in Hermione's ears was almost deafening and the arm that had snaked its way around her waist had dropped away and hung limply at its owner's side. She looked at Anita's face who had a large smile on it, she had been laughing but Hermione wasn't sure at what. Had Philip said something funny? Had they been laughing at her? She inhaled and felt her chest tighten.

"Pardon me" she mumbled before pushing her way through the crowd. She found a large glass door and quickly opened it thankful for the air when it had hit her face. She made her way out onto the terrace and pressed her hand to her forehead. How could Philip be here of all places? Why did her past always seem to come back to haunt her. She sighed and leaned her forearms on the stone fencing of the terrace. Her eyes scanned the darkness of the trees, and the fountain that was illuminated brightly.

"Hermione?" Draco shut the door behind himself and walked over to her, his hip leaning on the bannister. "Care to tell me what the hell that was about?"

She looked up at him and stood up "what are you talking about?"

He pointed in the direction of the mansion "Philip? Anita?" He threw his hands up "Were you going to tell me about him?"

She knitted her eyebrows together "he wasn't important! And I have mentioned him, Draco! You just never took the initiative to ask!"

He huffed slightly and looked at her baffled "Wasn't important?!" He stood there staring at her "wasn't important?! He was MARRIED!"

"So were you!" She pointed at him "you didn't expect me to stand around and wait for you, did you?! I tried to move on and Philip was VERY open with me about being married!" She laughed slightly and put her hand to her forehead turning around "before you came out to attack me for something that was seven years ago did you care to ask your dear friend Anita about when she brought home another man as well? How they decided it was an open relationship? Or how I decided to end it because neither of us loved each other we just were there grasping for a connection neither of us had?" She shook her head and put her hands on her hips. She stared at the tree in front of her her back still turned toward him "or did you come out to attack me without asking any questions first?"

She heard him sigh and she imagined him running a hand through his hair "but he is married."

She turned on him "and so were you, Draco! You married her not too long out of Hogwarts! What did the papers say? Hogwarts sweethearts!" She laughed and threw her hands up "I waited for you by the room of requirement after the war was over. After we had gathered all the dead, after we had healed the wounded I went back and I waited! You never came back, Draco! I wasn't going to wait forever and Philip was there when I needed him to be!"

"I couldn't have come back, Hermione!" He bellowed "I was seventeen, my parents forbade it! Said it was suicide if I went back." He ran his hands through his hair turning toward the bannister "Merlin..." he muttered.

"So you leave and marry Astoria? You can't judge me when you up and marry someone else, Draco!"

"You're not an idiot Hermione so why are you acting like one!" He turned to her "use your brain! I wanted to come back, Hermione! I wanted to run back to you! To beg for your forgiveness but I couldn't!" He raked his teeth over his lip in frustration, pausing slightly to look at the fountain "Astoria and I were friends in Hogwarts, nothing more. Our families betrothed us to each other. Neither of us wanted it, we both looked for ways out but none appeared." He looked over at her leaning on the balcony.

She furrowed her brows "when were you going to tell me this?"

"The same time you were going to tell me about Scorpius."

Her blood seemed to freeze within her veins, "how—?"

"Did i know?" He questioned looking back out into courtyard "Blaise. He had run into you in Paris..."

"He took the photo." She stared at the back of his head, watching him nod "you have it, don't you?" She inhaled through her nose "how long have you known?"

"Since he was about four."

Hermione stood rooted to the spot, her feet had hurt but her heart had hurt more "you knew all this time and you never told me?"

"I could never find you!" He turned on her "you up and left England without a trace! I had to have Blaise look for you!"

She stared at him "you what?! Is that why I had ran into Blaise? Is that why he followed me into my bookshop! What gives you the right? You left me, Draco! You gave me up! You had no right to look for me!"

"I had every right to look for you, Hermione! If I didn't I never would have found out about our son! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because there's no right time to tell someone that you're pregnant after they just got married to someone else!" She threw her arms up "no one gives you a manual of how to tell your boyfriend who married someone else that you're pregnant! No one gives you a manual on how to raise a child as a single mother and when a man comes into your lives and accepts your child you cling onto him as a life line because I was drowning! I felt like I was drowning and when I saw you I— I wanted to tell you so bad but how do you tell someone ten years later?"

"You pull them aside and tell them, Hermione!" He ran his hand down his face "you find them and you tell them! I missed out on so many things with him!"

Hermione felt tears pool in her eyes "I'm so sorry Draco."

He shook his head "we've been back together for months and you've been holding this back."

"You knew!" Hermione advanced toward him her hands moving wildly at her sides "you knew too! You could have mentioned it at any time rather than right now when you found out about Philip! You also had plenty of opportunities!"

He frowned and looked at her "I held him, when you were sick he had crawled up on me and I held him." He looked up at the sky and Hermione realized it had started to snow. "Does he know about me?" He looked back down at her, his face pained. "Merlin's beard." He muttered laughing in disbelief "he knows about me doesn't he? He knows about me and you STILL kept him from me. You kept me from him."

The tears that pooled in her eyes slipped down her cheeks in silent warm streams "I was going to tell you tonight. When we got home—" she swallowed hard and wiped the tears from her cheeks, not that it had done her any good, as more tears replaced the ones she wiped away "I was going to show you photos and videos and I thought that once you got used to the news of being a father we could—"

Draco held up a hand "I think you should go, Hermione." He turned away from her before walking toward the door. He paused and looked back at her, hurt etched on his features and it hurt Hermione to know she did that to him.

"If you'd like to meet your son, proper meet him, he'll be home on the seventh." She paused slightly and wiped at her cheeks "I um..." she dug in her skirt pocket and handed him the letter she had put in her pocket earlier "I wrote this, around this time about eleven years ago. I was too afraid to send it." She held a shaking hand out to him and he took it before walking back into the party.

Hermione stood rooted to the spot as the door swung open, the screams of people yelling happy New Year surrounded her, people stood in the room, kissing each other, throwing confetti or laughing. And she was out on the balcony, near the beach in a place where it rarely snowed, but seemed to mock her as the flakes stuck in her hair, and her life in pieces in the snow around her feet.

 **Authors Note:** I hope that this lived up to your expectations and all the waiting and frustration that happened to get up to this point! I'm very happy with it and I hope you all are too! Merry Christmas! See you soon!


	31. Chapter Thirty

_January 5, 2010_

"So let me get this straight" Blaise knitted his eyebrows together and placed his elbows on Draco's desk, crossing his arms "you two got into a fight, on New Year's Eve and then you asked her to leave, she hands you a worn piece of paper - that you haven't read yet - and you haven't seen her since?"

Draco picked at the corner of a piece of paper "no."

Blaise leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head "have you been over there?"

Draco looked up at him "multiple times. The lights are off and if she's there she doesn't answer the door." He frowned.

Blaise tilted his head a little bit "I wouldn't answer the door for you either, mate. I mean you practically shamed her for shagging a married man even though he was in a very open relationship and you were married to Astoria at the time so you didn't have any claim to her at the time" he held up his hands "I'm not saying what she did was right by any means. I mean keeping your son away from you." He whistled and rested his hands back on the back of his head "that's low. Both of you are pretty low."

He hung his head and sighed "I shouldn't have asked her to leave but I was so angry..."

Blaise kicked his feet up on Draco's desk and grinned at the blond in front of him "when Luna and I get angry at each other we just leave the room and blame whatever silly creatures she believes in. Maybe you should find your silly little creature mate, and read whatever she gave you."

Draco put his quill in the holder and leaned back in his seat. He couldn't do any work when Blaise was here and to be fair he wasn't able to concentrate since the New Year, it was like second year all over again except this time he didn't go to the hospital wing every day. He stared at the dark skinned man in front of him and cursed under his breath, he hated when Blaise was right.

 _.xx_

Draco flooed into his chateau after dinner, his head pounding and his shoulders stiff. All he wanted to do for the time being was sit in his study and sip on his firewhisky until he became coherent and Blaise became stupid again.

Instead he threw his bag down on the floor next to the island in the kitchen and picked up the letter Hermione had given him before he walked out on her... again. He pounded his fist into his forehead a couple of times, how could he have been so stupid. How could she have been so thoughtless? Why couldn't they both have come clean?

He grabbed the piece of parchment that she had given him off the island and took it up to the library, he needed the company of friends who didn't talk back. He sat down in chair closest to the fire place and quickly shot a spell to get the fire roaring. The snow hadn't stopped falling since he had returned home from greyside and he wondered if it was teasing him. He sighed as he settled down into the chair and opened up the letter.

 _5 July, 1998_

 _Dear Draco,_

 _I know this is the wrong time to write to you, seeing as you're recently engaged. Congratulations on your engagement to Astoria, you make a very handsome couple and I am truly happy for you. I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. I do have a confession to make, I'm not entirely writing to you about your engagement but to tell you something with the upmost importance. I'm pregnant. You don't have to worry about taking care of it, I'm not asking for anything financial or for you to be in its life. Ron and I got engaged today too, if you can believe that. He's promised to take care of me, and this baby. I can only hope it's for the best._

 _Love always,_

 _Hermione_

He blinked. She was congratulating him on an engagement she thought was true. Letting him off the hook of a child he would have taken care of. She didn't ask for money or anything, she simply let him know and weasel was doing the admirable thing by proposing. She was doing what she had thought was the admirable thing by letting him off the hook with their son, something that could have gotten him out of his marriage with Astoria and free to let them both live the lives they wanted.

He felt sick. He felt sick for the decisions Hermione had to make based on tabloid articles, he had never once tried to contact her, having accepted his fate the moment his parents told him. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They both were too hard headed for their own good.

 _.xx._

 _January 7, 2010_

He extended his fist and let his knuckles tap on the door in front of him. The smell of cookies wafted through the door and his stomach instantly grumbled but he wasn't sure if it was from hunger or nerves.

"Just a moment!" Hermione called from the other side of the door. He waited a few seconds before the door opened to Hermione with a floured apron. "Oh." She looked up at him before averting her eyes "hello."

"Hi" He looked down at her and she stepped aside, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Um, come in" he stepped inside and she shut the door behind him "I'll go get him." She looked up at him and he nodded. Hurt had danced in her brown pools.

He grabbed her upper arm gently and she paused, turning toward him "it's nice to see you..."

She nodded slightly before pulling herself away from him and disappearing down the hall, into the room that held a mystery.

 _.xx._

He sat at the table with Hermione and Scorpius opposite of him. They ate their dinner in mostly silence, Hermione answering questions that Scorpius asked her about school and she barley said two words to him. Scorpius looked at him and opened his mouth once or twice to talk but instead shoveled more asparagus into his mouth.

"So you're my dad?" Scorpius looked up at Draco, his grey eyes meeting his own. Draco nodded at the boy who stared at him "you were here when we were sick." His eyes searched his face "did you get sick too?"

Draco shook his head "No, I didn't."

Scorpius nodded "good, because if you did and you didn't have anyone to take care of you, I'd feel bad." He fidgeted in his seat and looked at the TV "I overheard mum talking to Aunt Ginny. She said she threw up on your shoes!" He grinned slightly "I bet that was wicked."

"Scorpius..." Hermione looked over at him sternly and he shrank down in his seat muttering an apology.

"Do you like ninja turtles?" Scorpius sat back up in his seat.

"I've never heard of them" he shook his head.

Scorpius gasped and jumped out of his seat "well! I'll show you! Follow me!"

"Maybe you can bring them out here?" He questioned looking at Hermione whose interest was piqued and she was looking at both boys.

Scorpius shook his head "no way! There's way too many to bring them all out here!" He walked half way down the hallway and turned to look at Draco "hey— do you like Quidditch?"

Draco stood up and followed the boy "I do! In fact I used to play at Hogwarts!"

Scorpius nodded "maybe you can take me flying? Uncle Harry got me a training broom for Christmas! Mum wasn't too happy about it. Thinks they're dangerous."

Draco laughed slightly and followed the boy into his room. In the corner there sat a twin bed with a red and yellow man on the covers, his curtains also donned the weird looking man. In one corner a dresser sat with a closet off to the left. On top of the dresser a tv was perched and in the other corner sat a toy box over flowing with different figures.

"Your mother told me the same thing whenever I'd get hurt playing Quidditch." He got down on his knees next to Scorpius who sat in front of his toy box "she hated flying on a broom."

Scorpius nodded "she still does. Uncle Harry tries to get her to fly all the time but..." he shook his head "do you know my uncle Harry?" Draco nodded and Scorpius grinned "cool! You know he was the youngest seeker in—"

"A century" Draco nodded "we didn't get along in school."

Scorpius frowned "that's sad because he's pretty cool!" He looked over at him and shrugged "okay so this one is Donatello— they're named after famous painters— this one" he held up "is mums favorite because he's purple" he rolled his eyes "this is Michelangelo. He's orange. This one is Raphael and" he grabbed another one from the box "this one is my favorite! Leonardo!" He roared and jumped up. "They're really cool! They live in New York City and they eat a lot of pizza!"

Draco nodded and sat criss crossed on the floor "just pizza?"

Scorpius nodded and shrugged "I suppose. That's all we get to see them eat. And it's always cheesy!"

For the next hour they played with the turtles. Scorpius showed him the character on his bed sheets and called him 'iron man' which baffled Draco to how anyone could he made of iron. Scorpius also introduced him to Batman and the joker and Draco learned that they were mortal enemies.

"Scorp?" Hermione leaned in the door frame and Draco turned to look at her, Scorpius held in Draco's raised arms about to drop him on his bed in a wrestling style Scorpius showed him how to do. "What's going on?" She raised one eye brow and looked at the two boys.

Scorpius grinned "I'm teaching him some wrestling moves! Like John Cena!" He looked at Draco "okay dad, go ahead!"

Draco tossed him down on the bed and grinned when the boy laughed looking at Hermione. Draco looked back and smiled at her and was pleasantly surprised when she smiled back.

"Okay! Time for bed. Tell your father goodnight."

Scorpius whined and sat up on his bed "do I have to?" He looked at Draco who nodded and sighed "fine." Draco started to walk to the door but a small hand grabbed his "can you read me a story?" He shrugged "I'm usually too big for stories but..."

Draco looked over at Hermione who nodded and shrugged slightly before moving out of the door way.

Scorpius grinned and pointed at the stack of books over on the bookshelf near the toy chest he had "pick a book! I gotta brush my teeth and get in my jammies!" He ran out of the room but rushed back in "stay here! Don't go anywhere!" He held his hands out in front of him and when he ran back out of the room Draco laughed to himself.

A few minutes later Scorpius ran back in wearing a pajama top with a dragon on the front, red sleeves and matching red pants. He kneeled down next to Draco and pointed to 'tales of beetle the bard' before he hopped into bed.

"Mum translated that!" He pointed at the book "she told me that when she carrying me for a couple months she had time on her hands. Then I came along and she got busy." He nodded and rolled on his side facing Draco.

"Which one do you want to hear?" He sat on the edge of his son's bed and opened the book.

Scorpius looked at him, his eyes searching his face again "can I tell you something?" He glanced away and bit at the bottom of his lip in thought, he couldn't have looked more like Hermione.

"Sure, anything."

He looked back at Draco "Mum has been really sad the last couple of days. She doesn't know I know but she came to uncle Harry's early New Year's Eve. I had to go to bed because I fell asleep on the couch but I heard her. She was crying." He knitted his eyebrows together "can I ask you something?" He didn't wait for Draco to respond "can you come back? I've always wanted a dad. Is it okay if I call you dad?"

Draco looked down at the boy and nodded "of course you can call me dad, that's what I am to you."

Scorpius nodded "are you going to stay? Forever?" He yawned "are you and mum going to get married like Marcus' mum?"

Draco shook his head "I don't think so, not right now."

Scorpius nodded and closed his eyes "it would be really cool if you did. A proper family..." he yawned again "if not that's okay too" he mumbled "uncle Harry said you were really rich and had a big house so you can just take me flying..." he trailed off as he fell asleep.

Draco put the book on the nightstand and stood up from the bed. Hermione has been in England, of course she was. It made sense for her to go to her friends, he had done the same thing with Blaise. He looked down at his son before he leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"He's asleep" Draco wiped his hands on his jeans, his fitted grey sweater now had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Hermione looked up from the book she had on her lap and nodded "thank you."

"Hermione I—"

She stood up from the couch and walked to the door "it's pretty late and he has to get to school in the morning." She opened the door "I think you should go."

He nodded and grabbed his coat off the back of one of the chairs and headed to the door.

They both stood there awkwardly, only a week ago they would have hugged or kissed goodbye, now they stood there with their eyes diverted to other places all because he exploded her secrets onto her, and his accusations of her with Philip.

"You can have him any time you want." She looked up at him and he looked down at her. He noticed her eyes had been slightly puffy and her nose a little red. He'd have given anything to kiss those lips, to take everything said in their argument back, to start over. "He gets out of school at 3 and walks to the bookshop so he gets there around 3:15 and we both get home around 5. He told me before he met you that he wanted you to come by every day but I told him you were busy and that might not be possible but at least try on the weekends?" She sounded defeated, and tired.

"Of course. Now that he's in my life I'm not going anywhere." He raised his hand to brush a curl out of her face but lowered his hand back down "I'd like to talk, Hermione. Maybe not now but later."

She nodded leaning into the door "I agree." Her eyes searched his face again and he watched as they became watery "goodbye, Draco." She all but pushed him out of the doorway and he listened as she bolted the door shut.

 **Authors note:** Donatello is the best ninja turtle & that's all I have to say about that. Also most of the time, kids are really weird and they're either going to accept someone or they're not and I wanted Scorpius to accept Draco since he's always wanted a father. Also, Blaise being… logical? Who'd have thunk ;) I'm almost done writing this story, which is bittersweet because I'm not sure I want to leave these two but I'm excited for the new story that I've been outlining (and will be writing soon) so keep any eye out for that in the new year (will reveal title probably in the last chapter) Thanks to legitimately everyone who reviewed! There were so many but I thank every single one of you and I'm so thankful for you too! This will be my last post for 2018 and I look forward to seeing you all in 2019!


	32. Chapter Thirty-One

_October 31, 1995_

 _It had happened so fast. One moment he was standing there patrolling the hallways and the next moment he was pushed against the wall with her hands in his back pockets and her lips on his._

 _It wouldn't have been a bad way to start the night had it not been Pansy Parkinson and had Hermione not turn the corner at that exact moment with Ron-fucking-Weasley attached at her hip._

 _"You're supposed to be exploring the halls, not each other's tonsils."_

 _Pansy pushed herself away from Draco and he almost sighed in relief thanking Merlin that her pointy fingernails weren't assaulting his backside but now he had to deal with Hermione's temper, and how he was going to explain this one._

 _"You'd love to explore something other than a empty bank vault!" Pansy laughed. Draco just sneered at the red head in front of him, trying to ignore pansy's Ill attempt at a joke._

 _Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed weasel's upper arm "come on Ron, they're not worth our time." They turned around and marched down the hallway in the opposite direction. He watched as she stopped and turned around, he noticed that her other hand was on her wand and he was almost positive that she'd curse him then and there if Weasel wasn't around. "Malfoy, maybe you should ask your little girlfriend where her tongue has been. I'm sure one of the ghosts wasn't bluffing when they said they saw two students in an abandoned classroom doing unmentionable things." She started to walk away again before she turned back around "also, if you were patrolling the corridors like you were supposed to be doing then you'd realize that there's a swamp in the dungeons. I don't know how you're going to get back to your common room." She stared at them "but the classroom down there is prime real estate, just ask Parkinson there, she'll tell you all about it."_

 _Draco watched as she retreated, her arm linked with Weasel's, their heads together as they talked and laughed made him sick. The thought of second hand dick from Pansy made him almost vomit._

 _"We just left the common room Draco, there couldn't be a swamp there."_

 _He looked down at Pansy and back up at the retreating forms of his girlfriend and her best friend "no, but I bet there's about to be."_

 _.xx._

 _November 1, 1995_

 _"For the last time I told you she kissed me! Not the other way around!"_

 _He watched as Hermione pulled a book off the shelf, her eyes focused on the books in front of her._

 _"I believe you."_

 _"You believe me like Salazar had a left tit." He grumbled, leaning on the desk and crossing his arms. She burst out laughing and promptly covered her mouth. A couple first years passing their alcove. Draco sneered at them making them pass quicker._

 _"Honestly, I'm not mad at you Draco." She sat down in the chair at their usual table and opened the book "I'm mad at Pansy." She muttered._

 _He threw his head black and laughed "Hermione Granger mad at Pansy Parkinson?" He slipped into the chair in front of her on the other side of the table "that's a new one!"_

 _He watched as she tightened her jaw before she looked up at him "because she gets to kiss you publicly and no one bats an eye. We get stolen moments in a library alcove on homework night. People already think it's strange that we got paired up last year could you imagine the scandal if one of us just walked up to the other and put their hands in back pockets?"_

 _"But you don't have back pockets" her tiny hand leaned over and slapped him terribly soft on the arm. "You're incredibly weak" he rubbed his arm where her fingers brushed the fabric._

 _She sat back down and looked back at the book "I'm not a fighter."_

 _"I highly doubt that." He muttered before opening his book._

 _.xx._

 _March 1996_

 _"You're mad at me?" She crossed her arms in front of herself, staring wildly at him. "All because I rooted for Harry in Quidditch?" She scoffed and turned her head away "unbelievable"_

 _"You always cheer for him!" He pointed to the end of the empty Quidditch pitch._

 _She rolled her eyes and Draco was sure they would get stuck like that with how many times she rolled them a day "because he's my best friend!"_

 _"I'm your boyfriend!"_

 _"I'm allowed to have friends, Draco! More importantly I'm allowed to have friends I had long before you! You have to get over this jealously of Harry!"_

 _He scoffed and turned his head toward the empty end of the pitch "I'm not jealous of potty."_

 _She laughed in disbelief "you are! Your name calling, the way you jaw tightens whenever he and I touch in some way, the passing of a parchment and our fingers touching almost sends you through the roof!" She shook her head "there's. Nothing. Romantic. Between. Harry. And. I." She poked at his chest and if he had to be honest, it hurt. "If you can't get that though your thick skull then maybe this won't work out between us!"_

 _"Maybe it won't!" He watched as she turned on her heel and marched down the pitch "where are you going!"_

 _"I'm leaving!" She called back, not turning around "if it's not going to work out then why should I stay?"_

 _He grumbled and stormed behind her "you are not leaving we're not done!"_

 _"Oh we're plenty done!" She turned around and marched to him again, he watched as her loafers sunk in the wet pitch._

 _"It's not over until the fat lady sings, that's what you say all the time right?"_

 _She crossed her arms and pushed one hip out "the fat lady sings all the time! We sometimes hear her through the portrait." She sighed and walked to him "things are getting difficult, Draco. They're not going to get any better and Harry would die without me..."_

 _"Would that be so bad?" He grumbled._

 _Her eyebrows knitted together "you have to stop making these comments. Harry is my best friend and he always will be. You have to stop being so jealous." She grabbed his hands and looked at him "I love harry like a brother and I l—like you like a boyfriend. There's a difference." He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her tightly._

 _"I'll try harder." He mumbled into her hair and melted into her as she snuggled closer to him. The lavender scent lifted from her hair and he kissed the top of her head._

 _"Are we okay?" She tilted her head to look up at him and he captured her lips with his._

 _"Always." He mumbled before kissing her again. "Fly with me?"_

 _She pulled away from him and he almost laughed at the expression on her face "are you mental?"_

 _He let the laugh roll over his lips and nodded "very." He grabbed his wand out of his pocket and accio'ed his broom. "Come in Granger, do you trust me?"_

 _She looked over at his broom and then at him, her brown eyes slowly took in his face and slowly moved down to his hands and the broom that hovered between them now and his stomach did flips. "You? Yes. This broom? Hardly."_

 _He rolled his eyes "it's a nimbus two thousand and one it's one of the safest brooms on the market."_

 _She tapped her foot as she looked at the broom "the safest broom on the market wouldn't be used in sport, Draco." She looked at him "if I get on this monstrosity you have to promise not to go above the bleachers."_

 _He nodded "on my word." He crossed his fingers behind his back, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. He watched as she flipped a leg over the handle and he got behind her, immediately kicking off to the height of the seeker._

 _.xx._

 _Draco slipped into the common room, his robes sticking to his body and his hair to his forehead from the abundance of rain March had brought down from the skies, interrupting his flying lesson with his little witch._

 _"Pansy's been asking about you" Blaise's voice almost made him jump out of his skin, he didn't notice the boy sitting in the chair by the fire, his mind was still on the pitch, nothing was quite like kissing her while hovering in one of the lowest goal posts. "You're lucky no one stays at the pitch after the game but everyone stays on the grounds. I saw you and her flying." He narrowed his eyes and looked at him "I know you've pined for her since first year but you got to be careful mate. The Slytherin Prince with Gryffindor's golden girl? Your parents would have a heart attack."_

 _He sighed and looked at Blaise "I know. It's so hard to be so close to her and pretend she's nothing but the scum beneath my feet." He sat down on the chair opposite Blaise and looked in the fire._

 _"You know I'm a sucker for love." Draco side eyed the dark boy in front of him and watched as he put his long fingers against his chest._

 _"Do you mean lust? I'm sure Daphne wouldn't call what you guys do 'love' and I'm sure you haven't loved anything since this morning's bacon."_

 _Blaise held his hands up in surrender "you know I'm a big fan of you and golden girl but with her best friend and who your parents support..." he paused and sighed "I just don't want you to put her in more danger. You know she's going to follow potter wherever he goes, but if the dark lord can see inside your mind..."_

 _Draco inhaled sharply and stared into the fire "...I'll make sure he doesn't then."_


	33. Chapter Thirty-Two

"What are you doing here?" She placed a book onto the shelf she was standing in front of and grabbed another, making it almost impossible for her to hold all the books in her arms.

"You haven't answered my calls or my texts" he leaned on the shelves, ultimately blocking her path, one had casually in his pocket but Hermione could see the nervous flex of his hand.

"I don't believe I have to answer your phone calls or your text messages" she slipped around him, wrapping her arms protectively around the books.

He growled and followed her "you do when we have a son!"

She turned around and looked at him her pony tail waving violently behind her "Then make it about our son, Draco! I agreed that we needed to talk but I don't think it's the right time." She looked down the aisle and thanked Merlin no one was down it "don't text me in the middle of the day asking what I'm doing—"

"I'm asking so we can go out and talk!"

"Well you're here now, talk!" She shifted the books in her arms and stared at him "go on then."

He looked at her, his mouth agape. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned around walking away.

"Come back to me when you're actually ready to talk. I was ready to talk on New Year's Eve but you cast me aside, Draco."

He grunted and she felt him behind her "you're a hard headed woman you know that right?"

She turned around some books flying out of her arms "and you're a prick, Draco Malfoy! Stop trying to contact me for reasons other than our son! When you left me out on your balcony you threw away everything we had!" She felt her chin quiver and she turned away and bent over picking up the books that fell onto the floor "I think it would be better if you just left" she muttered.

"I want Scorpius, over the weekend. Maybe when I drop him back off you'll be ready to talk."

She turned to look at him "are you ready to have him over the weekend? I mean you've only met a week ago." She sniffled a little, a reminder of tears that threatened to spill over moments before.

"If you're going to doubt me—"

"I'm not doubting, I'm asking a question. You two only met a week ago. I don't mind it one bit. Scorpius has always wanted his father but I want to make sure you're ready." She was more than thankful that Draco had taken such an initiative to be a father to Scorpius and she was impressed with how easily he had taken to Scorpius and how easily Scorpius had taken to him. He had been over every night for a week, sometimes for dinner and sometimes to tell Scorpius a story before bed, something he told Hermione he was too big for anymore.

"Dad!" Scorpius excited voice slipped through Hermione's self-conscious and she looked over at the pair "did you ask her?" She watched his grey eyes search his before both sets turned on her.

"I think you should ask her, buddy." He wrapped an arm around Scorpius who brought both of his gloved hands to hold onto his backpack straps.

"Can I stay the weekend at dads?"

Hermione sat the books down in an empty spot on the shelf and looked at her son "do you have any homework this weekend?"

He shook his head "nope! Madame said it was her Christmas gift to us for being so good this week!" He grinned "so can I?"

She sighed and nodded "of course! But you have to promise to listen to your father." She looked up at Draco "he's allowed to stay up a little bit later on the weekends, he barely makes it past 9:30 though.."

Scorpius furrowed his brow "hey! Last time it was 9:35!"

Hermione laughed and nodded "you're right."

Scorpius nodded proudly "Can I go back into your office now mum?" He looked between his mother and father "I don't want you to start arguing again..."

Draco sighed and kneeled down in front of Scorpius "we don't argue we just... disagree loudly about things sometimes." He grinned slightly at Scorpius "you should have heard us in school."

Scorpius nodded and looked up at Hermione who nodded "he couldn't handle being the second best in everything." She smiled jerked her head back in the direction of her office "your snack is back there." Scorpius grinned and looked toward the door "it's a mars bar, like I promised!"

"Yeah!" Scorpius pumped his fist in the air and looked over at Draco "Mum said I could have it before dinner if I didn't complain while getting ready for school and I didn't!" He puffed out his chest in pride "come get me when you're ready to go!"

The two of them watched as Scorpius ran through the store and into the back and shut the door.

"He's a good kid and he loves school—"

"—like his mother—" Draco commented.

"—He never complains about waking up early to go except when he's fresh from break and so used to being home or at Harry's." She crossed her arms and leaned onto the end of the shelves.

"Why does he go to Potters so often?"

Hermione shrugged "when he was younger Harry was the closest thing he had to a father figure. Scorpius' best friend Albus and I can't keep them from each other. Besides, he's such a good kid and does so well in school I can't say no." She looked at him and sighed slightly before looking at the stacks of books she left.

"He is a really good kid." He looked over at the door that had been shut "what's it going to take, Hermione?"

"For what?" She looked over at him again and wished she hadn't. He was wearing a light blue top, dark blue pants with a brown belt and matching brown shoes. His grey eyes seemed to cut her in half and his hands gently flexed by his side.

"You know what. For you to stop being so hard headed and just talk to me."

She narrowed her eyes and pulled the la petite sweater tighter around her "I don't know, Draco. You hurt me."

"You're not innocent in this Hermione, you hurt me too."

"I'm not saying I'm innocent, Draco. I'm far from innocent but I didn't leave you on my balcony on New Year's Eve for something you ended seven years ago." She looked at the door again and picked up the books "maybe you should get your son, I'm sure he's anxious to show you his moves on his broom."

 _.xx._

Hermione woke up to her phone buzzing and her screen lit up, she squinted at the screen and when she saw Draco's photo her stomach dropped.

"Draco?" She put the phone to her ear "is everything okay?"

"Yeah um.. Scorpius had a bad dream and refused to go back to sleep until he knew you were alright."

Hermione looked at the time on the clock sitting on her night stand. 12:34 "go ahead and put him on the phone."

"That's the problem, he said that in his nightmare they pretended to be you over the phone and told him you were alright but you weren't. I don't know, he's in a pretty bad shape—"

"—I'll be over in a couple of minutes." She rubbed her eyes and sat up "I'm sorry." She muttered swinging her legs out of her bed.

"For what?"

She sighed and stretched a bit "for him wanting to see me—"

"It's not your fault, Hermione. I'm not familiar to him in a way that would be comforting." She heard him sigh over the phone and even though she was still furious at him she wanted to reach out and comfort him, it was always difficult to comfort someone when they wanted someone else.

She sighed and slipped on her shoes "it's not your fault either. I'll be there in a second. Apparition wards are down?"

"Yeah. See you."

 _.xx._

With a loud pop Hermione found herself in the ball room of the chateau. She had had one of the best memories in this room, when Draco had danced with her but now that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hermione?"

She looked up at the blond who just entered the room and walked toward him "sorry, I could only think about this room when I thought about the chateau." She shook her head and slipped past him "where is Scorp?"

"Up the stairs and off to the left. He picked it out."

Hermione nodded and rushed up the stairs and opened the door to Scorpius sitting on his bed, playing with one of his ninja turtles, looking a little tired but not like he had a terrible nightmare.

"Mum!" He grinned slightly "you made it!"

Draco almost collided into her back as she stood there staring at her son. She was baffled as she stood there looking at the blond boy in front of her grinning from ear to ear.

"Your father called, said you had a nightmare."

He shrugged and looked down at his hands "yeah well, I lied."

"You know how I feel about lying, Scorpius." Hermione walked into the room and sat on the bed near Scorpius' feet, Draco shuffled in behind her and stood awkwardly next to her.

"Yeah but it was for the greater good!" He threw his hands up.

"There's nothing good about lying to your mother and father." Draco's voice surprised Hermione causing her to look up at him, he had looked so stern and... Sexy. She blinked quickly and looked away, she was mad at him, he couldn't look sexy when he was in pajamas and she was mad at him. She focused on Scorpius who was still grinning "the next time something happens we might not believe you."

Scorpius frowned and looked between his parents "I figured the risk was less than the reward."

Hermione arched her eyebrows "where did you learn that?"

"School. Madame was teaching risks and rewards and I figured I'd try it out."

"Such a Slytherin" Draco muttered in her ear.

"Why did you do it?"

He shrugged and looked between his parents "so you guys won't loudly disagree anymore." He frowned "I don't like it when you disagree." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up "excuse me, I'm thirsty."

Hermione and Draco stayed rooted to the spot as they watched their son walk out of the room and they looked at each other when they heard the door lock.

 **Authors note:** Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed this story, who has added this story to their alerts/favorites and whoever has taken the time to read! I'm so thankful for all of you and I don't know where this story would be without you guys! I know sometimes I don't add thank you's at the end but I'm honestly so so so thankful! I'm almost finished writing this story and I assume I'll have it finished within a couple of weeks but FEAR NOT there's still plenty of updates and we'll probably be updating once a week again because I want to finish this around the same time I started it in April! How crazy! Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy and please Review! They make me happy and I get super excited to write when I get them (no pressure ;) )

A quick little ditty- I'M GOING TO SEE PANIC! AT THE DISCO ON JANUARY 30TH! So I'm not sure that there will be any updates to the story that week but who knows! I'll be trying my best to keep up with the kids, as they say. Twenty-Eight is not quite Sixty but boy do I feel it!


	34. Chapter Thirty-Three

"Should we tell him we can easily get out of this room?"

"I don't think we should."

"I can hear you, you know! I don't hear any talking about disagreeing! Just about me!"

Hermione looked up at Draco and laughed until tears ran down her face "I don't know where he got his stubbornness from."

"You"

She scoffed and looked at him as he made his way to sit on the bed next to her "definitely not me! Have you ever met yourself?"

"Have you met yourself? Your middle name is stubborn." He sighed and held his hands up in surrender.

She crossed her arms and threw one of her legs over the other "our son outsmarted us." She muttered looking in the direction of the door.

"The cunning lad."

She sighed and looked at Draco "I didn't think about how this would affect him." She looked back at the door and saw the shadow of Scorpius at the door "I feel terrible. All he's ever wanted was a father and now we can't even get along." She uncrossed her arms and slumped slightly "why did you cast me away that night, Draco?" Her gaze fixed on a spot on the floor.

She didn't realize how long he had stayed silent but she did know that the spot on the floor seemed to grow bigger every minute he was quiet.

"I was upset." He whispered and Hermione looked over at him. His grey eyes seemed to be staring at the same spot on the floor "because you didn't tell me about Philip. You didn't tell me about our son." He glanced at her and her heart seemed to squeeze tightly in her chest when she saw all the pain in his eyes "I should know about the man who was in my son's life for three years. To know what he got to experience that you kept from me."

She looked down at her lap "I-I'm sorry."

He stood up and ran his hands through his hair "how many birthdays I've missed. I don't know what his first word was or—or where he took his first steps— I don't even know his birthday, Hermione." He sighed and leaned forward resting his elbows on top of his legs, his hands clasped between them and his head turned slightly toward her.

"February 16th." She whispered, her voice cracking slightly "his first word was 'wand' he had said it after i asked Harry for mine. His first steps happened in my living room when he was ten months." She wanted to reach out to him but kept her hands awkwardly in her lap "I wanted to tell you when we got back from the party. I had a whole thing set up in my mind where I'd tell you and you'd have so many questions so I'd answer them and show you the home movies I have and then I'd pick him up early and" she wiped the tears from her face quickly "everything went wrong."

They sat there for a few more minutes, Hermione's eyes fixed on the spot on the floor again.

"Did he ever call him dad?"

Hermione's head snapped up and looked at him "I'm sorry?"

"Did Scorpius ever call Philip— dad?"

Hermione shook her head no "never. He knew who you were, Draco. I never hid you from him. He asked a lot of questions, why we weren't together like a normal family—"

"Our Stars didn't align."

She nodded "Do you know how it feels to be stuck between the stars? You're a constellation, he's a constellation and I was right there. In the middle." She sighed and wiped at her face again "I feel absolutely terrible for keeping you in the dark these past ten years. I know there's nothing I can do to make up for it, but I want to try." She looked at him and for the first time she noticed he was crying too. Tears landed silently on the floor in front of him and when he turned to look at her she gently wiped off his face.

"We didn't agree to meet back up." He looked at the door before looking at her again "I had to leave in such a hurry due to this stupid thing on my arm" he rubbed his left arm absentmindedly before continuing "I didn't think I'd see you again, after that. I thought one of us would be dead and it wouldn't have been you. So I deliberately left without making plans to meet back up. You asked but I never answered." He sighed "and when I stood on those steps, behind you, I knew you'd wait but I left with my parents." He sighed and rolled his shoulders "I was raised to never disobey anyone, and I never did. I wanted my mum safe so I went with her and we fled. We made it to the villa in Italy and when I told my mum I wanted to go back.." he sighed "she wasn't happy at first, knowing about you. She was sure that you'd try to ruin anything I had with Astoria" He shrugged "she asked for forgiveness not too long after Astoria and I got married for what? To this day I don't know. I know she gave up on Astoria and I ever having children ourselves and when my father died I think she finally realized what I had lost because she lost the same thing." He exhaled deeply, his cheeks pushing out slightly

"Does she know about Scorpius?" She looked over at him running her hands down her legs nervously.

"Yeah—" he paused and inhaled slightly "I've mentioned the tapestry, yeah?" She nodded and dread filled her stomach "she looked at it about a year after I had found out. His name and birth year appeared. You didn't appear but she knew. How could she not. My father passed away not knowing he had a grandson." He shrugged "I don't think it would have made an indentation on his views. Could you imagine? The pureblooded Malfoy lineage tainted?"

"I think he'd have a heart attack if he found out." She muttered before she looked at the door, the small shadow still on the other side, probably playing with his turtle "do you miss him?"

"My father?" Draco shook his head "no, I'm better off without his hateful rhetoric and Scorpius is much better off without it. I never wanted to grow up like him, I just wanted to make him proud of me." His hand reached over and rubbed at the black mark on his arm.

She reached over and slipped her fingers in between his and visibly relaxed when he gave her hand a gentle squeeze "I'm proud of you, Draco."

"I'm so sorry, Hermione."

She leaned into him a little more and closed her eyes "I'm so sorry too." She looked up at him "you deserved better than what I gave you."

"You deserved to be listened to, not left."

She smiled slightly and wiped at her eyes "there's not a part of me that doesn't love you, Draco. I don't know what I can do to make this better—"

"Honesty and transparency. From both of us. If we're going to make this work we can't hide anymore secrets."

She looked up at him her mouth slightly agape "you still want to make this work?" she looked down at their hands intertwined before looking back up at him.

He nodded "I love you too much to let you go that easy."

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder "I really thought I messed things up. I thought you had messed things up. We're really good at messing things up."

"Us? Never." He playfully scoffed.

She chuckled softly before staring at the spot on the floor for a moment before speaking "I was out of the country for a few days after the new year. I was looking for a house to live in when I moved back to England."

"That's why you didn't answer your door."

She looked at him "you came over?"

He nodded "I wanted to talk immediately, I thought you were ignoring me."

"I was trying but I'd have made it very clear if I was home and ignoring you." He nodded in agreement "but I was in England looking at Houses and I looked at what seemed like hundreds when I realized my parents' house would be perfect so I went and..." she sighed slightly "it was weird, being back but it's such a good space for Scorpius." Her eyes searched his face "I was wondering what you were going to do when we moved?"

He shrugged "go back to the manor I guess."

She bit her bottom lip and looked at him "That manor holds so many bad memories, doesn't it?" He nodded and shrugged at the same time "so why go back?"

"Just to be close to Scorpius when he's back from school. I can go anywhere, French ministry or English, I'm invaluable to them as a lawyer."

She inhaled sharply "whydontyoumoveinwithus"

"I'm sorry?"

She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes "why don't you move in with us? Scorpius would love it. I know I would too." She felt her face turn hot and she was sure she was as red as a Christmas bulb.

"I'd like nothing more." He muttered bringing his lips down to meet hers, kissing her deeply. The moment their lips touched Hermione felt like life had been breathed into her again, she felt anew.

"Transparency right?" He whispered as he pulled away. She nodded resting her fingertips on her lips "the door has no lock, so our son magically locked a door that has no lock."

Hermione turned her face away from Draco's to look at the door before she laughed loud and long and not too long after Draco joined her.

"We've been in here long enough, we should probably get him" she stood up and Draco followed, their hands still connected. She walked toward the door hearing it unlock and she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder "wandless magic? Are you trying to impress me Mr. Malfoy?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Perhaps I am, Granger."

She raised her eyebrows and laughed slightly before she opened the door.

"Oh my god." She stepped aside "Draco" she whispered looking at him before looking back at Scorpius who was laying on the floor with his arms crossed under his head and his long eyelashes gracing his cheeks "he fell asleep"

She watched as Draco let go of her hand and bent down lifting the boy into his arms. He had taken being a father almost naturally and she stood and wondered how he would have been if he had been there from the beginning. She watched as he laid Scorpius down and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. Scorpius mumbled something and she heard Draco's deep vibrato respond before he turned around and shut the lights off before he shut the door.

"He's going to be a Slytherin." He started off down the hallway and Hermione followed suit.

"Doubtful, he's a Gryffindor all the way!"

He looked back at her and grinned "what he did was such a Slytherin move."

"What he did was brave and that's a Gryffindor trait." She inhaled through her nose and closed her eyes "you're just trying to get me worked up" she opened her eyes to see Draco in front of her grinning "and it's nearly one in the morning and I'm tired. I'll let you know when I get home."

He shuffled slightly and shrugged "or you can just stay here?"

She looked down the hallway toward the room her son was sleeping in and nodded slightly "sure, sounds fine." She looked around the hallway and pointed to the door next to her "in here okay?"

Confusion slipped across his face "I mean I have a perfectly good bed" he pointed over his shoulder to the door Hermione had only been behind once "or you can sleep with the loo. A bit unsanitary really..." he paused and shrugged as he made his way into his bedroom.

Hermione looked between the bathroom door and the bedroom and slowly made her way into the bedroom. It had still been as glorious as it was the first time she had been there. Draco now sat on the edge of his bed, the shirt he had on earlier was now off and Hermione took a moment to catch her breath at the sight of him. Of his scar, of his dark mark, of everything that made Draco, Draco.

"Everything alright?" He quirked an eyebrow and she nodded kicking off her shoes.

"Everything is perfect."


	35. Chapter Thirty-Four

_May 1997_

 _Hermione jumped off the common room couch as Harry emerged through the portrait hole._

" _You've been gone so long, Ron went off to bed..." she paused and looked at him. He stared at her ashen and visibly dismayed. She stared at him as he stared wildly back at her "what happened?" She repeated her eyes frantically searching his face, letting her eyes drift to the blood on his hands "are you alright?"_

 _He moved over to the couch and sat down, Hermione following suit grabbing at his bloody hands "Malfoy... bathroom... Snape..." he stared at her._

" _You didn't?" She clasped her hands to her mouth and looked at her best friend who started to tell her the story of how he found Draco in the bathroom and how he used the spell he had found in his potions book and how he tried to stop his bleeding before Snape came in._

" _Harry..." Hermione sighed and wrapped her friend in a hug tightly._

" _Snape gave me detention with him every Saturday for the rest of the year."_

" _As well he should have! You almost killed a student harry, all because you're caught up in thinking he's a death eater!" Her eyebrows knitted together and she pulled away to look at him "I told you that spell was dangerous. You didn't know what it did before you used it and if Snape hadn't been there—" She shook her head. If Snape hadn't been there, she'd have lost her boyfriend and her best friend would have been hunted down by the entire slytherin population if Lucius Malfoy didn't hear of it first. She sighed and pulled out her wand casting a cleaning spell on his hands "maybe you should get to bed. It's been a long day."_

" _You're right." His green eyes searched her face and she held his gaze for a moment before he broke away and went up stairs to the boy's dormitory._

 _She waited a few moments before she jumped up off the couch with the book she had in hand and slipped through the portrait hole, ignoring the grumbling fat lady behind her. She checked the time on her watch, ten after ten. It was early enough to still be coming back from the library should she be stopped and the book in her hand proved where she had been. Only it had been hours before. She slipped down a corridor and another one, narrowly avoiding peeves while dancing around Mrs. Norris._

 _She reached the large doors of the hospital wing and opened them with surprising ease before she slipped into the long room._

 _Lying in the middle of the room in a bed by the window was Draco. He was lying flat and as far as Hermione could see he was asleep, his chest rising and falling slightly with each breath he took. She sighed in relief, he was safe and now she could rest easily tonight. She turned around and put her hand on the handle but jumped when a voice called our behind her._

" _Miss Granger?" She turned around and smiled at the witch before her "it is well past visiting hours and curfew and you look healthy..." the witch eyed her and sighed "you do have a knack for breaking rules don't you? If it wasn't for Harry Potter—"_

" _Draco and I are partners in charms. I heard the news and I wanted to come see for myself." She eyed Madame Pomfrey before casing a longing look toward Draco._

" _Go ahead dear." She sighed "I don't get you in here as often as the others and while you do have a knack for breaking the rules you don't do it that often. Besides as head girl—-"_

 _Hermione smiled and nodded before rushing past her and sitting on the chair that sat on the side of Draco's bed, probably occupied by Pansy a few hours earlier._

 _ **.xx.**_

 _Draco opened his eyes and saw her sitting there cross legged with her elbows sitting in the crook of her knees, one hand holding an obscenely large book while the other held her wand with an illuminated tip._

" _You're here..." He croaked and she jumped, he wasn't sure if it was fright or excitement._

" _Where else would I be?" She smiled and grabbed his hand. Her hand was warm and soft and everything he dreamt of when he was dying in the bathroom._

" _Am I dead?" He groaned as he sat up slightly._

" _Only just." Hermione lamented before giggling slightly. He wanted to grin back at her, he loved to hear her laugh but his chest hurt. The giggling in his ears stopped and he looked over at her where joy was just a few seconds ago, concern replaced it "I'm sure you're in a lot of pain. I can get Madame Pomfrey for you—" she started to stand up_

 _He grabbed her hand "no." He breathed "stay. Please." Hermione nodded and sat back down after grabbing a potion off the table._

" _Madame Pomfrey said you'd be in here about a week." She unscrewed the top to the bottle that resembled skele-grow but Draco knew better "what Harry did—" she paused "—it was dark magic and it's just a precaution, keeping you here." She held out a spoon and he stared at the green liquid sitting on top of it "if you don't want me to get Madame Pomfrey you're going to have to take this. It'll make you sleepy but you'll be able to sleep."_

 _He shook his head wincing as he sat up a little higher "what time is it?"_

 _She looked at her watch and back up at him "three twenty two."_

 _He groaned "you just be exhausted—"_

 _She shook her head and he watched as her curls gently bounced around her "no, it's okay. I want to make sure you're fine and besides... I'm furious at Harry. He found that spell written in a potions book and he just goes and uses it on you?" She snorted and he quirked an eyebrow "this whole year he's been convinced that you joined the death eaters! How absurd is that?!"_

 _He averted his eyes and made sure that the left sleeve of his pajamas was pulled down. He didn't answer her and he didn't look at her, he let the air become pregnant with a loaded question. When she gasped he looked at her quickly, her hands were brought to her face._

" _Draco..." She shook her head "you didn't—"_

" _I had to, you don't understand."_

" _So help me understand, Draco." Her eyes wildly searched his face._

 _He clinched his jaw and stared out the window ahead of him. Rain pattered at the windows and he wished he was close enough to watch the water drops race instead of answering her question because if he was truthful with himself, he didn't know why he took the mark. He didn't want it, he didn't like what it represented and he didn't like the man behind it. But his father had been so proud. He wanted to keep his mother safe. He closed his eyes._

" _Because it is demanded of me that I do it. I've been given a job, I can't talk about it so don't ask me but I beg your forgiveness in advance." He muttered._

" _I don't know what's going on Draco but you're better than what's on your arm." She reached over and he winced slightly as she touched the fabric over arm "you're not a bad person and you're never going to be a bad person. You are an exceptionally good person, Draco Malfoy."_

 _.xx._

 _Her laughter filled the hospital wing as she clutched her sides. Her hair seemed to frizzle a bit and tears leaked out the sides of her eyes and what seemed like instantly, she stopped._

" _That was..." she breathed and looked at him, her brown eyes filled with joy "...very good, Draco."_

 _He shrugged and looked at her "Rictusempra isn't that hard."_

" _I know but we have to go over all the charms we know. Who knows what professor Flitwick is going to put on that test." She knitted her eyebrows and pulled her legs beneath her, resting her book between her legs._

 _He sighed and sat up, a lot easier than he had two days ago and he was thankful "I doubt he's going to make us tickle each other."_

 _She shot him a look "you're lucky you're laid up in bed otherwise I'd tickle you!"_

 _He grinned at her and looked down at the book on his lap, ignoring the sound of the doors to the hospital wing open._

" _What is she doing here?"_

 _Draco looked up to see Pansy standing at the end of his bed, Crabbe and Goyle behind her and Blaise behind them, lazily strolling in with a toothpick between his lips._

" _We're studying." Hermione looked at her before she looked back to her book flipping a page "or did you forget that—"_

" _No one asked you, mudblood!" Pansy stomped and crossed her arms._

 _Draco watched as Hermione straightened her spine and shut her book "I'll see you later."_

" _Granger..."_

 _She stood up and straightened her skirt and her sweater. In stolen moments in the library he had felt the soft thighs that her skirt had covered and her taught stomach that her Gryffindor sweater hid "no, you have company and one doesn't like to hold the company of the chauvinistic." She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder before walking away from the bed._

 _Pansy stood rooted to the spot, her wand out and pointed to the chair Hermione had previously occupied. He watched as she cast a scorguify before she erupted into a fit of giggles. Her loud nasally laugh filled the hall and he turned his eyes to his witch who had her wand casually flung over her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder and winked before disappearing through the door._

 _.xx._

 _He reached over and grabbed her hand that hung limply at her side. She had fallen asleep sitting upright in the chair she had vacated a few days prior. Pansy had taken visiting Draco whenever she could, making sure Hermione wasn't there. Whenever she came in and saw Pansy she dropped off his class work and left often leaving Pansy in a fit of giggles before she cursed her name._

 _But she was here now, asleep in the most uncomfortable position with one hand clasped loosely around a book and one clasped between his fingers._

 _She opened her eyes and stretched slightly "Draco?"_

 _He reached out and moved the book out of her hands "come here."_

 _She groaned and shook her head "we're in school, Draco."_

" _So?" He gently tugged her hand and she stood up and laid down on the bed next to him. He wrapped his arms around her "I'm sorry about Pansy."_

" _I'm not worried about her." She mumbled, her hands gently resting on his forearms._

 _He sighed and buried his face in her hair "for the word—"_

 _She sighed and snuggled closer to him. He prayed to Merlin that she didn't feel his burgeoning erection._

" _It doesn't bother me. It hasn't bothered me for a long time." She sighed "wake me in an hour yeah? I have ancient runes and I can't miss it."_

 _Draco nodded silently and pulled her closer to him, his eyes fixated on the door in front of him wondering what Blaise would say. Before he closed his eyes he cursed his friend for being mildly right at least twenty five percent of the time and made a vow to practice occulmency more diligently when he left the wing._

 **Authors note:** I have outlined ELEVEN (this is probably a lie, probably less than that because I can't count which is why I write and don't do math) more chapters before we're completely done. Might be more but there's at least eleven more weeks of these two as we know them in this story. I'm so sad but excited to start on a new one!


	36. Chapter Thirty-Five

Scorpius jumped on the bed between his parents and when Hermione opened her eyes she saw his grinning face with a confused Draco behind him. She'd have laughed if she wasn't half asleep.

"Scorpius..." she muttered closing her eyes tightly.

"You're still here! That's good news right?!" He rolled on his stomach and kicked his feet on the bed "I fell asleep. Did you know that there's a ghost here?" He nodded looking at his bewildered parents "his name is Franz and he said he was the duke of something and he died here in 1617. How cool." Scorpius looked over at Draco "was he related to you?" He gasped slightly "if he's related to you then he's related to me! I'd have a ghost for a relative!" He squealed with excitement.

She lazily turned her head toward Draco and he shrugged slightly "I'd have to check the tapestry—"

He gasped "we have a tapestry!"

"Scorpius it's six in the morning. What in the world are you doing up at this hour?" Hermione grumbled scooting closer to the middle of the bed, hoping to squeeze Scorpius back into his own bed.

She felt him shrug "I don't know. I'm hungry I guess."

Hermione sighed and pulled the covers back "what do you want to eat?"

"Crepes!"

Hermione busted out laughing joined by Draco "don't ask your father to make them. He thinks he's a master crepe chef but I promise he isn't."

Scorpius looked between his parents in confusion "but you can make crepes, right Mum?"

Hermione nodded "of course."

 _.xx._

Hermione stared at her plate and back up at the boys who sat across the table from her. The sunlight poured in behind them illuminating their white-blond hair and shining gently on the amused expressions in their faces.

"I don't know what's so amusing." She muttered before she picked up the menu sitting just to the left of the plate she had stared at moments before "plenty of people can have a fluke at crepes even if they've made them plenty of times before."

"Sure." She looked over her menu at Draco who lifted his menu off the table "it's just a good thing we know where this cafe is." He yawned before setting the menu down "and that they know how to make crepes"

Hermione made a face over at the elder blond and looked back down at her menu. When the waitress came over they all ordered.

"I was thinking mum," Scorpius looked over at her and she raised an eyebrow "that I can have my birthday party at dad's house."

Hermione frowned slightly "but I thought you wanted to have it at the aquarium? The invitations have already been made—"

Scorpius frowned "the aquarium is cool, I guess. But how cool would it be to have it at dads! There's a ghost and everything!"

Draco shook his head "I think the aquarium sounds even better than a ghost. You'll get to learn a lot and as an added bonus you'll learn about giant squids."

Hermione looked over to Scorpius' confused face and put a hand over her mouth to stop the giggles.

"Why should I care about a giant squid?"

"Because there's a giant squid living in the lake at Hogwarts. When you get sorted into Slytherin—"

"—Gryffindor—"

"—you'll get to see the squid all the time. The common room is under the lake and the squid likes to float past lazily. Sometimes he'll ink the windows. Boredom or fun we're not quite sure." He grinned at Hermione as his crepes got laid out in front of him.

Scorpius cut into his food and shoved a fork full into his mouth "ibetiminsqufythern"

Draco looked at him and shook his head "we don't talk with our mouth full" he leaned down "at least not in public"

"Draco! No! We don't talk with our mouth full at all!" Hermione scolded both of them before taking a small bite of her strawberry filled crepe.

Scorpius made a show of swallowing the food in his mouth "I said I bet I'll be in Slytherin!"

Hermione furrowed her brows "but there's always Gryffindor!"

Scorpius nodded "Uncle Harry was there with you so that'd be fun but I bet you don't get a giant squid! Hey dad—" Scorpius turned to look at him ultimately squeezing Hermione's heart at the same time. She was very grateful that the two of them took to each other so quickly and she had been honestly surprised when Draco accepted to move in with her. She jumped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of clapping

"Yeah! I'd love to go to your birthday party!" Draco grinned and high fived his son.

"Great! You'll get to meet Uncle Harry again! Maybe you'll get along better!" Scorpius grinned before taking a bite of his crepes while Draco seemed to turn a shade of green causing Hermione to laugh until she clutched her sides.

 _.xx._

 **February 16, 2011**

Hermione stood in the back of the large room while the children fished for crabs in the forefront. If she could, she'd join the children because where she was standing she wanted to shrink away. The tension was so thick she could have cut it with a knife if she had one.

"So Malfoy..." Ron cleared his throat and looked at the tall blond off to her left "...did you like Azkaban?"

"Oh Ronald really." Hermione turned to look at him.

"I'll have you know, Weasel that I never stepped foot inside that Dementor infested shit hole." He looked around Hermione "but I'm sure your father would have after the first—"

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and looked between them "were here for the children! Look at them." She pointed toward the kids, who laughter filled the air unaware of the tension behind them "if you want to spoil Scorpius' birthday then go right ahead and argue!" She looked at them "Instead of standing back here like a bunch of ninny's we can go do what Harry and Ginny are doing and help them!" She turned away and marched toward her son. She wrapped a arm around his shoulder and he looked up at her and grinned showing her one of the crabs he caught.

"Malfoy" Harry's voice caught her attention as Draco's arm snaked his way around her waist.

"Draco, how lovely it is to see you!" Hermione looked over at Ginny and smiled at her best friend who gave her a quick wink.

"Potter." He nodded curtly "Ginny"

She looked at Harry who cleared his throat "it's been a while since I've seen you at the ministry, do they not need you often?"

Draco shrugged and dug his fingers into her hip slightly "seeing as I'm not in England at the moment I doubt they'd want to use me as often as they'd like to."

Hermione inhaled uncomfortably causing Draco to release the grip on her hip "but he's moving to England soon so I'm sure he has a ministry position lined up." Hermione started at the tank of crabs, the awkwardness of it all was killing her.

"Is that so?" Harry seemed genuinely interested and she looked over to see him push his glasses up his nose slightly, his green eyes locked on to grey ones "well I'll look forward to working with you more closely than we had in the past." He grinned "lawyers are on the same floor as the aurors which is lucky for us really." She watched as Harry shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

Draco shrugged "I've yet to be contacted but I'm sure upon my return they're going to contact me. I heard Yaxley is looking for a good defense lawyer." He shrugged "I'm sure I'll be contacted about it but unfortunately interpersonal connection or something of the sort will prohibit me from taking on the case." He looked at his son who was now holding up a crab to "I'll think of something to say by then."

Harry grinned and nodded "well if being a lawyer is ever too boring you can always pop on over to the Auror department and have a try."

"I'll keep that in mind, Potter."

"You can call me harry." He looked over at Hermione who grinned and wrapped her own arm around Draco's waist "it's nice to see 'Mione so happy again." He smiled at her and she wanted to reach out and hug him.

"I'll keep that in mind." He looked down at Hermione before looking back at Harry "she said she thought you knew about us, in school?"

"Harry is about as observant as a door mat, so the fact he picked up on it at all is a miracle in itself." She laughed slightly.

"Hey—" he shot her a offended look before putting a hand to his chest "—I did how ever see you two snagging behind the statue of the one eyed witch. Ron refused to believe it."

"Still do" He grumbled before turning his attention back to Rose.

"He'll come around." Hermione looked at the back of Ron's head "they're my brothers, they're going to give you a bit of a time."

"Too right we will." Harry said raising his water bottle in a salute.

"As long as you don't invite me over for tea parties—"

"—oh we won't. But Lily might!" Ginny laughed slightly "she's a sucker for them and having a new uncle around to sucker into her Pigmypuff only tea parties will be a delight."

"They really are fantastic." Hermione squeezed him a bit closer to her before letting him go to check out the crabs in the tank.

After fishing for crabs they moved on to a delicious lunch, after a delightful treasure hunt before they got to feed the fish. After feeding the fish they were all shuffled into a room with a delightful view of the Eiffel Tower to enjoy Scorpius' pirate themed birthday cake and what Hermione thought was a ridiculous amount of bonbons and presents. After the party dispersed and Hermione said goodbye to her best friends she toured the aquarium with her son and her boyfriend. They took in the mermaid show and Scorpius had to spend as much time in the shark exhibit as he possibly could.

 _.xx._

"I can't believe he fell asleep on the train" Hermione looked behind her at Draco who was awkwardly carrying their son, his long legs dangling limply and his cheek pressed against his shoulder "he's never done that."

Draco only grunted in reply as Hermione opened the door to her flat letting Draco enter first. Wordlessly she flicked her wand and transfigured Scorpius' clothes into pajamas and Draco mouthed a silent thank you before disappearing into Scorpius' room.

She busied herself with putting the kettle on and slipping out of her trainers. Another successful birthday in the books, all of Scorpius' friends had a blast and the meeting between Harry and Draco had been a success. She had to work on Ronald though, but when didn't she?

"I think he's going to be napping a while." Draco shut the bedroom door behind him and walked over to where Hermione stood, staring at the kettle "which I don't blame him." He yawned before wrapping his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck.

"A nap doesn't sound too awful." She muttered before turning her head to kiss him "thank you." She smiled and kissed him again.

"I don't know what I did but if it leads to this I'll do it more often."

Hermione laughed and leaned into him "for behaving. I think after a couple of dinner parties you'll become best mates."

Draco opened his mouth to respond but Hermione tore out of it as the mail flap opened and a letter fell gently to the floor.

 **Scorpius Malfoy  
The second room on the right  
Paris, France. **

Hermione picked up the letter and looked at Draco, tears brimming her eyes. "He didn't get this, this morning." She swallowed "I was terrified that it wouldn't come..." the tears that brimmed her eyes spilled over "...and here it is! I—I'm—"

Draco hugged her tightly and she grabbed onto his soft blue shirt crying into it softly "mental." He finished for her causing her to laugh.

"I'm happy! Exuberant! I knew he'd get it but I was just being irrational." She sniffled and looked up at the man in front of her "I'm losing my baby!" She wailed before shoving her face back into his chest.

His hands gently rubbed her back and she thanked him in-between hiccups "you're not losing him." He wiped at her eyes "he's just continuing on our legacy."

"He can't be both number one and number two at the same time." She joked lamely causing Draco to laugh loudly before pulling her into a tighter hug.

"We'll go to Diagon alley when we get back to England." She nodded as he pulled away, holding her at arm's length "now let's all take a nap, we have big news when he wakes up."

Authors Note: I *finally* got internet at home, so I'm able to post more often but because it's such a awful laptop I don't get to do much on it and sometimes I forget to edit the chapters to thank everyone who reviewed, so i'm thanking you all now. I'm so very thankful for you and I'm very thankful that you all have stayed with this story, no matter what :) It's going to get downright cold here in the midwest so i hope that wherever you are that you stay toasty warm! i'm going to see panic! at the disco and I'm so excited that I thought i'd give you all a chapter this week (even though I originally said that I wasn't, it was because I forgot I was getting internet, ha). I hope that you all enjoyed and I know we aren't that much further till the end. 3


	37. Chapter Thirty-Six

_August 20, 1998_

 _Hermione opened the window to the flat and let the warm air float through and graze her face. She had been profusely vomiting for the past twenty minutes and thought a breath of fresh air would do her some good, but the heat seemed to suffocate her and within two minutes she was bent over the bowl emptying the contents of her already empty stomach. She leaned her head back on the wall behind her and groaned. When she was younger she had heard her mother talk about how wonderful being pregnant was, how Hermione was the light of her life even before she was born and right now, Hermione couldn't relate._

 _Tears streamed down her face in frustration. Frustration that the life inside her made her throw up half the day but wanted her to eat everything under the sun and frustrated that she couldn't share this with her parents. They had lived, in their minds, child free for their entire life only to finally live their dream in Australia. She pulled her knees up and rested her forearms on top of them, one hand clutching the others wrist._

 _If she was being honest, it wasn't fair. She had been too strong with her memory charm, she had erased too much too fast and no matter how hard she had tried, she couldn't get them back. She wiped at her eyes quickly as she heard the door to the flat open._

" _Mione?"_

" _In here!" She called, gagging slightly._

 _Ron appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, his robes were ashen, his hair was ruffled and his face dirty "what are you doing there?"_

 _She sat up a little straighter and looked at him "you have a bit of dirt on your nose." She laughed slightly as Ron's hand went to his nose, making the smudge worse than what it was "I kept getting sick, so I figured I'd stay here. The library sent me home early because I wasn't a help." She sighed and felt Ron sit next to her. "Today was your lunch with lavender, wasn't it?"_

" _Yeah..." he looked at the toilet and Hermione vaguely recalled the way he looked when he told Draco to eat slugs and it backfired._

" _Are you okay?" He shook his head and leaned it back against the wall "I mean after all this time, it must have been nice to see her again!" Ron shook his head and closed his eyes "no? It wasn't?" She turned her body toward him, a movement her stomach wasn't fond of but she kept whatever wanted to come back up, down._

" _She's uhh" he cleared his throat and opened his eyes to look at her "she's a lot like you..."_

" _Not to sound... privileged Ronald but I am anything like lavender brown. I think if she could have fought me over you she would have." She leaned her head on her friends shoulder "bit jealous, we weren't even dating..."_

" _Yeah well I'm talking about something else." He cleared his throat again "she's pregnant." Hermione lifted her head off of Ron's shoulder and gasped slightly "said she's about seven months." He looked confused "musta happened around the time I left you and harry. I was in a right state you know, after the horcrux and everything and I missed her so i contacted her. We met in a town outside the Forest of Dean." He brought his knees up and rested his forearms on his knees, his fingers playing with a loose thread on his robes "it's a girl."_

 _Hermione smiled sadly "and here you are, trapped with me and a baby that's not even yours."_

" _Never trapped." He shook his head and sighed deeply "she's a bit miffed about me being engaged to you though."_

" _When isn't she miffed about me, Ronald?" She laughed and Ron joined her, their laugher filling the small bathroom "so December?" She laid her head back down on his shoulder._

" _Yeah." He nodded "what am I going to do?"_

 _Hermione stared at the toilet, wrapping a arm around his "we'll think of something."_

 _.xx._

 _The covers seemed itchy and hot and she could hear Ron's snoring from across the hall. She laid on her back, her hands resting on her slightly swollen stomach wondering all what lavender had been through, and how most of it had been without Ron. She sighed slightly and rolled out of bed, heading to the kitchen to grab the bag of Oreos and the jar of pickles. She shuffled to the bench by the window and opened the jar and the cookies, dipping the chocolate and Creme cookie into the salty brine._

 _She moaned softly as she took a bite, staring out the window. Whatever lavender was doing right now, she deserved to have Ron by her side, just like Draco should have been there on her side. She leaned her head on the glass and dipped another Oreo into the pickle jar, there was no way she'd let Lavender be without Ron._

 _.xx._

 _December 21st 1998_

 _The new flat she occupied was smaller than the one she shared with Ron. But all her stuff was there and she was more comfortable in her new place than she was the old flat. It was closer to the library she worked at which allowed her to walk when her feet didn't feel so swollen. The prophet had posted an article the day after Hermione had moved out about Ron's affair with Lavender, how the famed miscarriage had caused him to find love elsewhere._

 _"I do love you Ron, but not in the way you love me, and I want you to be happy and to find someone who can give that to you."_

 _The memory made her smile and she settled down into the chair she had placed by the window. She had loved Ron, like a brother and Ron had loved her in a different way, but not in the same way he had loved Lavender and she couldn't keep him from what she had longed for._

 _The snow storm from yesterday raged on blanketing London in a soft white blanket, she took solace in the snow as much as she did in the fake fight that her and Ron concocted although the prophet concocted the story of her miscarriage, they had the part about Ron and a woman near Cardiff._

 _A soft knock came at her door and she knitted her eyebrows before answering. Ginny stood there, her fiery red hair sticking out wildly from underneath her white knitted hat, her cheeks flushed from cold._

" _Ginny?"_

 _The redhead smiled and pushed her way through the door and took off her hat, snow falling to the ground "Lavender had her baby!"_

 _Hermione brought her hands to her face and tears sprung in her eyes almost instantly, no thanks to her hormones and the intense urge to want to hold her own baby that moved restlessly in her tummy "oh my god! When?"_

" _Yesterday morning" Ginny stomped off her boots on the rug before taking them off "we've been trying to get ahold of you but your phone is off..."_

" _Since your mums explosion I just needed some time.." she shrugged and waddled back over to the chair she was sitting in "I apologize, I'll keep it on from here on out." She watched as Ginny sat on the couch "Ron had told me it was a girl.."_

 _Ginny nodded "they named her Rose, she has Ron's hair but did we expect anything else?" She laughed._

 _Hermione chuckled and nodded "of course she does. I can't wait to meet her." She tucked one leg beneath her and looked at her friend "I heard that you quit the French fliers, why? I thought you loved that team and harry is concerned.."_

 _Ginny shrugged and picked at a piece on her sweater "other important things have come up." She bit her bottom lip and grinned slightly "I haven't told Harry yet, I just found out not too long ago myself but... I'm pregnant!"_

 _Hermione's eyes went wide and her hands flew up to her mouth again "oh my god! Ginny! Congratulations!"_

 _She laughed and nodded slightly "thank you! It's a bit crazy how close in age all our children will be! I didn't expect this, not for a while, I really wanted to play quidditch professionally..."_

 _Hermione stood up, walked over to the couch, plopped down next to the ginger and gave her friend a tight hug "there's always a time when the baby gets older that you can! It's not over yet!"_

" _Not until the fat lady sings!" They both said in unison, laughing together._

" _I feel so bad" Ginny muttered resting her head on the back of the couch looking over at Hermione._

 _Hermione followed suit and looked at her friend "that's going to happen, a lot. I got sick almost every day for two months. It was awful—"_

" _No." Ginny cut her off and grabbed her hand "that I get to go through this with Harry and you have to go through it alone."_

 _Tears pricked at Hermione's eyes again but she smiled "but I haven't gone through it alone. I have you and harry and Ron." She smiled and grabbed her friends hand "and I'm never alone. I have this baby with me all the time and" she inhaled "I'm excited. I'm excited for Ron and I'm so excited for you and Harry."_

" _And for you?"_

" _Nervous." She laughed "but excited too. I like to think Draco would be too, if he knew."_

 _Ginny sighed "He's still a prat for going off and getting married to someone else but I'm sure he'd have been excited." She gave her hand a gentle squeeze._

 _.xx._

 _February 25th, 1999_

 _Hermione stared at the little boy in front of her. His short blond hair mussied up from his tiny little gloved hands almost always up by his head. He laid in a swing, his large grey eyes staring back at her. She had taken a rental car to France instead of the train like she had originally planned and it took her quite a bit of time with a stop in dartford, Maidstone, folkstone and Saint-Omer to either feed a crying baby— which she felt quite ogled at in the back seat of the car with her breast bared— to soothe a crying baby or to change a baby while getting petrol. Half way through her original six hour journey she got upset that Harry wasn't there. That Lavender had Ron, that Ginny was taking the train to set up Hermione's brand new flat prior to her arrival. About thirty minutes past Saint-Omer she pulled off to the side of the road to cry long and hard and when that was over she drove onto Paris where she sat now, staring at the infant who stared back._

" _Hi." She watched as the swing gently rocked him back and forth, his eyes never leaving her face "you're finally awake." She smiled and reached to pick him up and cuddled him close to her chest "did you have a good nappie?" She rubbed her hand up and down his tiny back "your daddy loved naps too." She held him close as he wiggled his little legs "it's probably the reason he came in second, right behind me." She propped her feet up on the table and smiled down at the baby "I think you got your love of naps from your dad but you were very punctual and you got that from me." The baby brought his mitten clad hands to his face and yawned "you look just like him, which is unfortunate because I did all the work but I didn't get the credit." She laughed slightly at her own joke. The baby closed his eyes and Hermione smiled sadly at the baby cuddled on her chest "I wish your daddy could see you, Scorpius. I'll tell you all about him, whenever you want." She placed a kiss on the side of his head before laying her head back and closing her eyes, tears leaking out of closed lashes._

 **Authors note:** I hope that this clears up any questions you had about rose being a bit older than Scorpius! Also I'm SO sorry about updating so late. Panic! at the disco was AMAZING and I'm so happy that I got to see them (and a shirtless Brendon *heart eyes*) in person! i've been waiting fourteen loooong years for that. But also the day after the concert I ended up with the flu so i've been trying to get better and honestly everything after january 31st has been a blur. Thanks to everyone who has read this, added to favorites, added to alerts and of course those who reviewed. I'm still so thankful for all of you. 3


	38. Chapter Thirty-Seven

May 2010

Scorpius grumbled slightly as he buttoned up his light blue shirt. It had originally been pink but he had his dad transform it to blue, because that was his favorite color and while his mum always told him boys were allowed to like pink too, he always thought it was girly and he didn't want to be seen as girly in Italy. He slipped on his navy blue slacks and slouched on his bed. They were itchy and he hated them. He wanted to wear his jeans and the super cool ninja turtle tee shirt that Santa — if he was real — had brought him.

"Scorp?" His mum knocked on his door gently "are you ready? We're going to be late for the portkey if you don't hurry up."

"Do I HAVE to wear this?" He opened the door up and looked at his mum who looked like she had seen the words cutest cat "mummmmm!" He whined.

"Scorpius, you have to." She turned around and made her way down the hall "come on, your shoes are out here."

He groaned and slouched out into the living room where his dad sat on the couch, one ankle resting on the top of his knee, the daily prophet open in his hands. Scorpius noticed that he was also wearing navy blue slacks with a pink button up, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his feet clad in brown loafers. Scorpius slipped on his adidas' and looked at his dad.

"Can you roll up my sleeves too?" He held his arms up to his dad and watched as he cocked one eyebrow up at him in interest before he put down his paper and leaned forward, rolling up his sleeves.

"Are we ready?" His mum walked down the hallway in a red dress and black flats. He had seen her wear this dress before, she wore it often when she wanted to look nice but Emeline wasn't available to help. He often thought she was beautiful, even without Emeline's help. He looked over at his dad who had stopped rolling up his sleeves and was now staring at his mum.

"If dad will roll up my sleeves like him, yeah." He looked over his shoulder at her and she seemed to have make up on, her cheeks were a bright shade of pink "why do we have to dress up like this if we're using a portkey? Uncle Harry uses one with us all the time and he doesn't have to dress up like this."

"Because your grandmother will like it." He looked over at his mum who was bent over fussing over his curly hair "and first impressions matter." She stood up "look at you," she cooed "you're so handsome."

Scorpius made a face and slung his back pack over his shoulders "my Australian grandmother?"

He watched as his mum smiled sadly and shook her head no.

"My mother." He turned around and looked at his dad. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, to finally have a dad and for how he seemed to want to be Scorpius dad. He still sometimes laid in bed at night pinching himself just to make sure it wasn't a dream. "She was in Germany for ages and wanted to meet you the moment she got back to Italy."

"Doesn't she live in France too?" Scorpius looked between his parents "mum said on New Year's Eve she was going to her fancy French house. Uncle Harry said he's been there a few times. Why does it have to be Italy?"

"Because she loves Italy very much."

Scorpius looked over at his dad and slipped his backpack onto his shoulders "do you think she'll love me very much?"

Draco crouched in front of him and nodded "very much so. How could she not?"

Scorpius grinned and nodded "OFF TO ITALY!"

 _.xx._

The portkey had left them in a back alley and Scorpius landed on top of a pizza box sitting next to a pile of trash. He scowled at it before standing up watching his parents float down.

"I landed in pizza!" He called to their descending bodies "it smells back here, why couldn't we have ended up somewhere else?"

"It's the best I could do on short notice, bud." Scorpius watched as his father withdrew his wand and without saying a word the pizza on his legs disappeared and he didn't smell like garbage anymore.

"I can't WAIT until I get to do that!" He jumped excitedly "I have to tell grandma about it!" He rushed down the alley and turned back to look at his parents, a thoughtful look crossing his face "Do you think she'll want to be called grandma?"

His father linked hands with his mother and he wanted to gag "what do you mean?"

"Well... Marcus has a grandmum who likes to be called Nana" he started ticking off his fingers "then there's Alan who has a meemaw and then there's Greg from Ohio who has a Mamaw and apparently they're different than meemaws. Annie has a granny and Beatrice has a babushka."

"I'm sure you can ask." His mum smiled and wrapped her arm around his shoulders "come on, let's go!"

Together the trio made their way out of the alley and into the sunlight. Scorpius held onto his backpack straps tightly as his head turned every which way to look at the buildings. He had seen beautiful buildings before but Italy was different and much to his delight it didn't have the Eiffel Tower anywhere. He gasped slightly as he turned his head to the left to see boats floating in between buildings, bridges connecting lands to lands and guys with long sticks manning the boats.

"I can see why she loves Italy!" Scorpius grinned and looked at the brightly painted buildings and he ran over the bridge ahead of his parents, waving at a guy on a moped he had seen in his history book "can I ride one of those?!"

"Your mum barely lets you on a broom, what makes you think she's going to let you on one of those?" His father quirked his eyebrow and Scorpius grumbled in agreement, he vowed that somehow, some way before he left Italy on Sunday he'd ride a moped.

 _.xx._

He sat across from her in between his parents on the couch. A very large ornate table sat between the two couches and Scorpius thought it was odd that someone would have more than one couch, even his dad who had a larger house than what his grandma currently resided in had only one couch.

She sipped her tea while looking at the three of them, dressed in white pants and a loose fitting green shirt. Her blond hair cascaded around her shoulders and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle. He didn't understand why his mum was so nervous, he could see her tea cup gently shaking.

"I noticed that the house elves are dressed well." His mum took a sip of her tea delicately.

Grandmother's eyes snapped from Scorpius' face over to his mum's "yes, of course." She leaned down and placed her tea cup on the table so Scorpius did the same. She smiled at him briefly before sitting back up "I remember in your fourth year that Draco came home rather miffed that we treated our house elves as such." She tucked one ankle behind the others "I assumed it had to do with a girl then, but I didn't know it was you. I'm quite surprised to see you here, Hermione." Her eyebrows shot up.

"Mother..."

Grandmother shook her head "no, Draco I'm not—" she shook her head and held up a hand "—I'm not doing that. You know that's not who I am." She frowned slightly "I saw what transpired at the party, I heard about it from you, Draco and I haven't heard from you since I've been in Germany and I didn't realize you both had finally communicated..." she leaned forward, grabbed her tea cup and took a small sip "like the adults that you are not the children you pretend to be."

Scorpius looked between his parents who wore a expression similar to his when he got in trouble "I made them talk." He looked at his grandmother across the table "I pretended I had a bad dream and so mum came over and then I locked them in my bedroom over at dads!"

Her eyebrow raised ever so slightly "but that chateau doesn't have locks."

"I KNOW!" He laughed "I was so determined to get them to talk that I locked the door" he shrugged "and then... and then I fell asleep but!" He gasped slightly "I went to wake dad up because I was hungry and mum was there too! Dads been with us every weeknight because I have school and on the weekends we go over there."

"I see..." she looked at his parents and then back at him "I suppose I could see you in Gryffindor because it's very brave what you did but your bravery is outshined by cunningness and that's a Slytherin trait." She looked at the two other adults "He is going to Hogwarts... is he not?"

Scorpius jumped up and dug the letter out of his pocket "I am! I got this on my birthday!" He grinned and held his letter out to her "well, it came when I was taking a nap. We went to the aquarium and I learned all about giant squids!"

She laughed and he saw her eyes crinkle at the corners "that information will come in handy when you're there!" She took his letter and let her eyes scan over the letters "dear Mr. Malfoy we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." And smiled and Scorpius puffed out his chest in pride "congratulations sweetheart."

Scorpius beamed "thanks!" He paused slightly and looked at her intently "I have a question?"

She took a sip of her tea "ask away."

"What do I call you? Because my friend Marcus has a grandmum who likes to be called Nana" he started ticking off his fingers again in the same fashion he did with his parents "then there's Alan who has a meemaw and then there's Greg from Ohio who has a Mamaw and they're different than meemaws. Annie has a granny and Beatrice has a babushka." He furrowed his brow "and grandmother and grandma and grandmum just sounds too old for you."

He watched as she flipped her blond hair from her shoulder in thought "well, i suppose since were in Italy— and I plan to be here forever— Nona."

His father's voice almost made him jump, he forgot about him being here "but we're not Italian.."

He watched his Nona shrug "doesn't matter. Grandma and grandmother sound too old, like Scorpius said." She smiled at him demurely and he wondered if she was like this when his father was growing up, maybe he'd ask her later or maybe he'd just ask his dad.

"Can I show you my ninja turtles?" He looked at her "mum only lets me bring my favorites." He grabbed his bag and moved over and sat next to her "do you have a broom too? Uncle Harry got me a broom for Christmas but dads been teaching me how to fly because he says Uncle Harry is a pompous—"

"Scorpius." His father's eyes went wide and he watched as his mother's hand collided with his father's arm.

"I'm sure we have a broom around here somewhere but you can't fly it outside, the muggles would go absolutely bonkers seeing a boy on a broom. But" she leaned in "the ballroom is exceptionally large, I think it's just perfect for little boys who want to ride brooms."

Scorpius grinned and looked at his parents. His father looked amused and held the same grin that was etched on Scorpius' face but his mother looked nauseous and less than pleased. He looked over at his Nona who had stood up and made her way across the room to a closet.

"Draco, darling, why don't you go and take Hermione out and show her Italy?" She rummaged through the closet the muggle way, to Scorpius' surprise, tossing a few things over her shoulder "Scorpius and I have a lot to catch up on and—" she pulled something long and wooden out of the closet and Scorpius gasped "—here it is! Draco your old Nimbus. Should be a good broom for the boy." She slung it over her shoulder and walked back to the family on the couches "I think you and Hermione should leave for now. Explore the city and Scorpius and I will get to know each other better." Scorpius stood up and walked over to her and she put her arm around his shoulder "besides, this conversation isn't over between the three of us yet. Just on pause." She looked down at Scorpius "follow me!"

 _.xx._

Scorpius watched as his Nona showed him how to get the broom up off the ground, not that he got to do it successfully anyway. She smiled fondly at him and assured him that he'd get flying lessons at Hogwarts.

He learned that she played chaser on the Slytherin team from her second year to her seventh and was the reason Slytherin lead in a few victories in those years. Scorpius couldn't wait to watch a Hogwarts Quidditch match, although the Bulgarian team was his favorite and much to his father's dismay, Viktor Krum was his favorite player. His uncle Ron tried to get him into the cannons, but if Scorpius was being honest, they sucked and he'd never wear the cannon orange even if he had a wand to his head.

After lunch, which his Nona had insisted they go to a place he couldn't pronounce but they had really good pizza anyway, they walked to a flower shop and he got his mum some roses and his Nona bought his dad some dark liquid that Scorpius wasn't allowed to touch.

"Nona..." Scorpius took a bite of his gelato that his Nonna bought him after they had bought the flowers for his mum "mum said that dad wasn't always nice to her, why?"

She leaned back in her chair, licking the gelato off the cone she got "well," she sighed "your Nono wasn't the nicest man when it came to people who were like your mum..."

"Muggle born?"

She nodded "I think your father wanted to make his father proud. It wasn't an easy feat." She licked at her ice cream again "but I can tell you that your father has loved your mother since he was your age. It was hard not to notice the way he stared at her when they got off the train after their first year." She sighed.

"Mum once said he was married, that's why she didn't tell him about me for a long time, because she didn't want to ruin anything for him..." he looked up at her, his grey eyes into her brown ones "...if he loved my mum like you said, why did he marry someone else?"

She sighed again "that's a story for another time, Scorpius but I will tell you that things were different back then and betrothals happened at a young age. I didn't realize what he had went through putting him through something he didn't want until I lost the one thing he had."

"Which was?"

She looked at the boy in front of her and smiled "love."

Scorpius made a face and shook his head "ew."

He listened to her laugh, the sound of bells clanged in the distance "we still have a few hours before your parents come back, what do you want to do?"

Scorpius took a bite of his gelato "well... there's something dad doesn't think mum would let me do..."

A half hour later Scorpius found himself sitting on a moped with his Nona in front, the helmet pushing down his soft curls. They cruised through the town, his Nona stopping to get some things for dinner that he couldn't pronounce and took him through a cruise through the town, pointing the historical landmarks and fun things to do when he visits next time. He leaned his head on her back and smiled to himself, she may have been demure earlier but Scorpius knew that this woman was the woman his dad had been raised by, a Nona who would take him on a moped and after dinner, jump on the bed with the weird sisters in the background.

 **Authors Note:** *Pops head around corner* hi, hello. its been a while. I lost my flashdrive for the longest time and I thought that it was at the library but I found it sitting in the drawer next to my bed. I wish I could say that I have the next chapter written for this, but I don't. I have an outline of what i want to write, it's just getting the motivation to write it. Hope to see you all soon 3


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